Even smokers are the first to admit today that smoking is bad for the health of the smoker, bad for the health of those around them and is a general nasty habit.
This newspaper published a story on yesterday’s front page in connection with a legal notice which will make pictorial health warnings on cigarette packages obligatory within 15 months.
The pictorials will extend to other tobacco products within 21 months in an obvious shock campaign attempt to get people to stop smoking.
Let us look beyond the superficial arguments in that smokers smell bad and taste nasty. There is so much more to it and the first issue that springs to mind is the general wellbeing of the population and the strain which smoking-related diseases put on our healthcare system.
It is undeniable, smoking causes a number of illnesses including cancer, heart disease, gum disease, stomach complaints, asthma and it also causes high blood pressure and heart attacks.
Governments around the world are now pushing for primary care and prevention rather than cure, and the only way to eliminate the ill-effects of smoking is to either never start in the first place or to give up.
It is never too late to give up and any measure, no matter what it is, which is aimed at making smokers give up, is welcome. Shock tactics do work – there are countless adverts on television.
Most, if not all readers, will have seen the shocking advert of fat dripping out of the end of a cigarette to signify the clogging of arteries. There is also the advert of children singing about their parents, encouraging smokers to give up.
But there is still so much more left to be done. The smoking ban in public places – although still flouted – has helped making smoking more socially unacceptable, and this is the way it should be.
When one compares Malta to other countries in Europe, we are perhaps more aware of the damage smoking can cause to others and we are also perhaps more aware, through the ban, that smoking is not the norm.
But we still have a very high percentage of smokers, especially among the younger generations. This newspaper fully supports the introduction of pictorials, but a wider scheme is needed. We need locally produced adverts – good ones – on our television stations to keep hammering the message home – smoking kills.
And while the government is keen not to upset the boat, given the public sentiment at the moment, it should have hiked cigarettes up further in the last budget. Cigarettes are taxed on consumption, and while smokers might begrudge forking out an extra euro on each packet, there will be more people who are happy about it than angry – and that includes the families of smokers.
It makes sense, smokers not only make themselves ill, and cost the state millions in health care every year, they also make others ill. It is only logical that if they are willing to pay the price for a packet of cigarettes, they should be willing to pay the tax on it too.
Even if the price is hiked up drastically, people will still smoke. But if we could at least get some people to give up, and prevent others from starting, we might see some improvement.