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Tuesday, June 06,
2006
Libre: Dangers of
smoking
By Mel
Libre
Seriously Now
In time for the commemoration of the
“World No Tobacco Day,” the World Health Organization (WHO) released
a strongly-worded attack against manufacturers and distributors of
tobacco products.
It said: “The tobacco companies continue
to put profits before life; their own expansion before the health of
future generations; their own economic gain ahead of the sustainable
development of struggling countries.”
It seems like the
problems caused by tobacco products will not go away so easily. WHO
even considers tobacco addiction as having grown into a “global
epidemic.”
My son, Kim Angelo, made a research on tobacco
addiction and delivered his findings before his peers at the
Auckland University of Technology. I browsed through his paper and
was somewhat touched by his introduction: “Three years ago, I was in
my grandfather’s room and I saw him lying on his bed. My grandfather
(Angel Libre Jr.) was a chain smoker and he suffered from lung
cancer. The doctor said it (the cancer) was already in its final
stage. One night, I was assigned to watch out for him, he was
coughing, vomiting, in pain and was not able to sleep well. It was
for me a miserable and heartbreaking experience. I felt really
useless because I wanted his disease to disappear…. After a few
days, he was sent to a hospital for chemotherapy. Unfortunately, he
was not able to tolerate the pain. My grandfather died in the
hospital with this condition. This essay is dedicated to him and to
people who are unaware of the dangers of smoking.”
The essay
made mention of the ill-effects of tobacco and cigarette smoking,
such as lung cancer, heart problems, chronic bronchitis and
arthritis, among others. It enumerated the dangerous substances in
tobacco smoke, such as nicotine, carbon monoxide and
cancer-producing substances, such as tar.
One clincher in
the report was a quote from Patrick Reynolds, whose grandfather
founded the tobacco company that manufactures Camel, Winston and
Salem: “My grandfather chewed tobacco and died of cancer. My father
smoked heavily and died of emphysema. My mother smoked and had
emphysema and heart disease. My aunts died of emphysema and cancer.
Currently, three of my older brothers who smoke have
emphysema. I smoked for ten years and have small-airways lung
disease.”
In response to the relentless anti-smoking
campaign, cigarette manufacturers have countered by promoting and
selling new products, which WHO claims are “disguised under
healthier names, fruity flavors or more attractive-looking
packaging.”
The line has long been drawn between
anti-smoking organizations and cigarette companies—and neither seems
to be winning. The biggest losers, though, are the smokers and the
youth who think smoking is harmless and cool.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click
here.
(June 6, 2006 issue)
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