Do You SMOKE without Cigarette in your fingers????

Yes, you read right.

Many of us smoke without actually smoking i.e. without even holding cigarette in our hand.

Let’s find out your answer in various situations.

a)      A Person (Boss/Client/Relative etc) smoke in front of you...you being comfortable with smoke OR being polite OR due to practical purposes/situations can’t oppose.

The Answer is: Yes, You smoke either due to ignorance or practical situations.

b)      You never encounter above situation because either your circle persons don’t smoke or they smoke not in front of you.

The Answer is: Congrats....You don’t smoke due to your luck...Your social circle is so free of smoke.

c)       You strongly oppose and either get out of the place/situation or able to convince the smoker to stop smoking while you are there.

The Answer is: Congrats...You don’t smoke due to your guts to oppose.

Now you all have understood what today’s article is about.

Yes, it is about PASSIVE SMOKING [also known as environmental tobacco smoke (ETS)]

As per https://www.wikipedia.org, Passive smoking is the inhalation of smoke by persons other than the intended “active” smoker. It occurs when tobacco smoke permeates any environment, causing its inhalation by people within that environment.

(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_smoking)

PASSIVE SMOKING IS OF TWO TYPES:

Second Hand Smoking AND Third Hand Smoking.

Before knowing what are these terms, first know about the harmful effects:

Exposure to second-hand smoke causes same diseases which are caused by active smoking and may even cause disability, cancer and death.

Various studies have proven this fact that the Passive Smoking specially 2^nd Hand Smoking is MORE DANGEROUS TO HEALTH than Regular (Active) Smoking.

For details on results of one of such studies, pl visit https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1748121/

Or Read TOI Article at http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/Second-hand-smoke-killing-lakhs-in-India/articleshow/12743318.cms

Or Just Google “Second Hand Smoking kills”.

Now, let’s know in detail:

SECOND HAND SMOKING (SHS)

SHS is a mixture of 2 forms of smoke that come from burning tobacco:

·         Sidestream smoke: Smoke from the lighted end of a cigarette

·         Mainstream smoke: The smoke exhaled by an active smoker

Example:

Suppose your friend is smoking in a room where you are also seated.

Here, your friend is Active Smoker (First Hand Smoker) and you are Passive Smoker (2^nd Hand Smoker) and Interesting fact (as above mentioned) is that you are more likely to suffer diseases caused with Smoking in comparison to your friend.

(You are receiving ‘gift’ from your friend in form of diseases caused by smoking L)

Another example:

One of Passenger is smoking in Bus full of Passengers.

Here, all Passengers specially seated nearby the smoking passenger are 2^nd hand smokers.

THIRD HAND SMOKING (THS)

Oh..God..So many forms of Smoking....

Suppose you enter into a room from which one person has just come out after smoking 2-3 cigarettes.

Yes..You guessed right... Now, you turned into a 3^rd Hand Smoker.

Although this is less harmful in comparison to 2^nd Hand Smoking but may be equally harmful as in case of Real smoking.

SOLUTIONS:

Now, Question arises what to do in such cases especially in 2^nd hand smoking (SHS):

1)                              Politely oppose

Simple, you politely oppose the person who is smoking in front of you and say that you are not comfortable with the smoke (even if you don’t feel such & can handle smoke).

2)                              Get out of place wherever practically possible

If possible & practical, just get out of the room/cabin/area which is filled of smoke and open the windows etc for ventilation of smoke.

3)                              Awareness

Spread awareness. There are lot of awareness by Govt (pictorial warning on tobacco packs etc) & NGOs about the dangers of smoking, but no one warns about the risks of second hand smoke.

If your office has smokers, ask HR to provide separate smoking zone for smoker colleagues.

If your Boss is also smoker and frequently plays with cigarette, give him message directly or indirectly. During my previous job, my Boss was chain smoker and I made a "Thanks for Not Smoking"poster and pasted all over the office hall. Although it didn’t deter him to stop smoking during office hours but he tried to smoke whenever I was not around.

4)                              Play Tricks

This is upto your imagination. My favourite trick which I used successfully few times during my bus travels in Rajasthan (where most of villagers use to smoke ‘bidi’) was below:

Even after your polite request to quit smoking, the smoker doesn’t stops, simply go to the person and say you feel like vomiting and act as if you are just going to vomit over him.

So, after knowing about Second Hand Smoking, Nobody has right to say that:

“Aai laaa..Why I got heart attack/stroke even though I do not smoke?” or

“Oh God... Why are you calling me earlier than my smoker Boss/friend?”

RAISE your Voice against Second Hand Smoking after all it is matter of Your Health and No one (of course except you) has right to effect it in harmful manner.

Hope you liked today’s article and Wish you have smoke free environment wherever you go or work...

Enjoy Smoke Free Environment !

Enjoy NOW!!

Pawan Kabra