RECENTLY, the long-awaited and contentious Tobacco Bill was passed in Parliament. The bill that prohibits smoking in public spaces is one that has been victim to many inaccuracies being peddled against it.

One of these many misconceptions is that many people are peddling the idea that the bill bans tobacco smoking outright. What the bill does is control the smoking of tobacco products in public spaces.
The bill also places a comprehensive ban of all tobacco advertising promotion and sponsorship. If you’re like me and you watch a lot of TV, then chances are that daily you are inundated with images of presumably ‘cool’ people smoking. The advertisements usually suggest that it is the act of the person’s smoking that makes them cool. This sends a dangerous message to viewers, particularly as it relates to children who are impressionable. It leaves out the dangerous effects smoking can actually cause.

In the Guyana 2010 Country Report – Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS), it was found that 11 per cent of the students surveyed were offered a “free” cigarette by a cigarette company. That report also stated that over half of them (56.8 per cent) were never denied the sale of cigarettes because of their age. With the implementation of the Tobacco Control Bill, it would be illegal for children under the age of 18 to purchase tobacco products. Paving the way for a ban on the sale of single cigarettes that usually makes it easier for children to purchase them, the legislation also ensures that all buying customers are provided with the health warnings accompanying tobacco products.

DEMTOCO had complained that the tobacco company was not included in the series of consultations conducted during the formulation of the bill. However, as was pointed out by National Consultant for the Pan-American Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO),Attorney Kesaundra Alves, Article 5.3 of the FCTC does not allow for that. “We could not directly interface with the tobacco industry, the measures that the tobacco industry wants run counter to public health.

There is no seat for public health and the tobacco interest at the same table.” Consultations were however done with the Private Sector Commission, the Chambers of Commerce, and businesses within the restaurant and hospitality sector. It is highly unlikely that the arguments posed by the tobacco industry would have been much different or influential.

Tobacco is not only extremely addictive, it is also extremely dangerous. Cigarettes are directly linked to several types of cancers, skin and respiratory diseases and problems. While the government cannot necessarily dictate whether an adult can smoke cigarettes, they do have a role to play in ensuring the public health of its citizens. This bill was a much-needed one, given that too often than not, I have had to ask persons to stop smoking around me. Many are talking about their freedom being infringed upon with regard to the tobacco bill and smoking in public. Some even have resorted to the slippery-slope fallacy, saying that if we allow the government to do this, it is only a matter of time before our other rights are violated.

Firstly, yes you do have a right to smoke. However, your right to smoke should not infringe on someone else’s right to not smoke. Second-hand smoking is just as dangerous as the person smoking. So while you have the right to smoke, you don’t have the right to endanger others. Your recklessness should only affect your own life. According to WHO, “In adults, second-hand smoke causes serious cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, including coronary heart disease and lung cancer.

In infants, it causes sudden death. Almost half of children regularly breathe air polluted by tobacco smoke in public places. Second-hand smoke causes more than 890,000 premature deaths per year; in 2004, children accounted for 28% of the deaths attributable to second-hand smoke.”

I am a smoker. I don’t smoke cigarettes, but I am a smoker who does not smoke around people. Even if I do smoke around people, it is in a room with all smokers. No one is taking away your right to smoke in the comfort of your own homes. Wanting to smoke in public and exposing others to second-hand smoke is extremely selfish and should be regarded as a public health crisis. There is the concern about the revenue that will be lost due to this bill and the livelihood that might diminish for cigarette sellers too. While it is unfortunate that this revenue will be lost or diminished, our nation’s health is more important than the capital we gain from ruining the health and lives of its citizens.