Son, smoke with me
Of the many bad things that the cigarettes cause, one of the worst, is the damage they do to others.
According to figures from the World Health Organization, tobacco kills more than 8 million people every year, of which more than 7 million are consumers of the product and about 1.2 million are passive smokers, that is, those who don’t smoke but are exposed to secondhand smoke.
Each year 65 thousand children die from diseases attributable to tobacco smoke. Tobacco has more than 4,000 chemical products, of which at least 250 are known to be harmful, and more than 50 cause cancer. There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.
We all know someone who smokes, and when we make a comment about the damage they do, the answers are always the same: “we all have vices,” “I don’t smoke a lot,” “it's my life,” “if I want, I can leave it,” “I'm going to die of something,” etc. It would be very rare to find someone who would accept that the cigarette controls their life. They don’t want to see the harm they are doing, until it’s too late.
So far it's a personal thing, but what about the people around them? We have all seen people smoking in the car, while taking their children; of course, with the window down “so that the smoke gets out.” There are many real and known cases of couples where one of them, although he/she doesn’t smoke, is ill or his/her health deteriorates because of the vice of the other.
The current laws help a lot to those who don’t smoke in public places, but these should be more severe for those who cause harm to their partners or their children, who can do little to avoid harm.
It is incomprehensible that if you leave a dog locked in the car while you step out to the supermarket, you receive a fine, not matter if it was only for a few minutes; while there are adults who smoke for hours with their children inside the car, without anyone telling them anything.
Let's create awareness and take care of our health and that of our loved ones!
