Smoke screen

Smoke screen

The WHO "No Tobacco Day" has provoked me into writing of my
concerns about the attitude of some people here towards smoking.
It is apparent that some smokers do not realize the possible
severity and extent of damage to their health which smoking can
cause. Questions such as "you have enough money to smoke so why
don't you?" are occasionally thrown at my husband.

I was engaged in conversation with an Indonesian lady who
admitted that she did not smoke in public, because of the
negative "bad girl" image it portrayed, but that she smoked in
private. She laughed when I suggested that there is a reason why
she should not smoke at all -- her health. Her response implied
that she did not fully comprehend the government health warnings
and that she was unwittingly laughing in the face of death.

A person should be free to choose whether or not she smokes,
but an informed decision cannot be made unless a person is fully
aware of the facts. Advertisements portraying virile young men
with a cigarette in hand only serve to exacerbate the problem.

ANNE-MARIE ELIZABETH TAPP

Cilegon, West Java