ST: Aunt died of lung cancer from secondhand smoke

Good advice:

JACK UP CIG PRICES
"Higher cigarette prices may not convince all smokers to quit but they will deter younger people from picking up smoking."

Home > ST Forum > Story
Nov 6, 2007
Aunt died of lung cancer from secondhand smoke
MY AUNT, a non-smoker, died of lung cancer - her husband was a heavy smoker - and I applaud the Singapore Cancer Society and the National Cancer Centre for organising the inaugural Lung Cancer Awareness month.
I hope that more smokers will finally take seriously the health risks they expose themselves (and their loved ones) to, with each cigarette that they light.
On the other hand, friends and families of smokers must also understand that nicotine dependency is not only physical but also deeply psychological. Hence, breaking the addiction is immensely difficult for most smokers.
Yet, on their end, smokers must stop deluding themselves or give excuses to continue to smoke. They must not be afraid to stop. More needs to be done and I believe two measures must be emphasised, one non-punitive and the other punitive.
First, smoking-cessation clinics must be made as accessible as possible to smokers. The Health Promotion Board website presently lists fewer than 30 locations that provide such services.
General practitioners should also strive to persuade their patients who smoke to sign up with cessation clinics.
Even though such clinics generally charge a nominal fee, the services should ideally be made free-of-charge.
Second, there is still room for cigarette prices to increase. For example, a pack of cigarettes in Norway costs US$11 (S$16).
While the price increase may not convince all smokers to quit, it will definitely deter younger people from picking up smoking.
There is no other way to see it: smoking is a terrible addiction that enslaves people. Those who believe that smoking is pleasurable and relaxes them are really no different from crystal meth users who claim that the drug makes them alert and happy.
In a different time and a different place where tobacco companies do not wield so much economic clout and where the fatal health effects of smoking are known, few governments would have allowed the sale of cigarettes.
Harvey Neo Choong Tiong
http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/Story/STIStory_174032.html