Smoking is the single biggest preventable cause of death. While smoking may be legal for adults, the medical costs associated with it are enormous. Many of those who suffer most from smoking-related illnesses take up the habit in their teens. About 80,000 - 100,000 children worldwide start smoking every day - roughly half of whom live in Asia. And aside from that, evidence shows that around 50% of those who start smoking in adolescent years go on to smoke for 15 to 20 years! Smoking doesn’t just affect the smokers, but also the people surrounding him. Studies show that nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke were 25 percent more likely to have coronary heart diseases compared to nonsmokers not exposed to smoke.
Many of the Filipino cigarette vendors are children, and at a very young age, they are already exposed to such deadly poison. A certain survey conducted stated that as many as 40% of adolescents boys smoke; most began in their early teens. Another 6% were former smokers. The majority of these young smokers said peer pressure was one reason why they took up smoking. Most now wish they did not smoke and about two-thirds have tried to give up.
Davao City pioneered the regulation of smoking in public places in the Philippines, which was replicated by other cities and gave birth to the national anti-smoking law. But this doesn’t stop the generation today to stop smoking. In fact, the more the parents, government, or whoever bans smoking, the more they are tempted to light a cigarette.
Vices, such as smoking, kill people everyday. Smoking does not solve any problems, in fact, it adds to the problems. It just provides temporary relief by substances invading one’s body system, mind, and life. Dependence on vices like smoking often just leads to a life of crime.