Smoking — the worst possible de-stressing tool

RECENTLY I was watching a news report where CNN anchor Anderson Cooper reported on the health of President Obama. Apparently Obama had gone for a medical checkup and was told that he was verging on overweight and high cholesterol.

I was jolted by the United States’ openness towards these issues. There are many countries in the world that exercise extreme discretion on the medical checkups of their presidents and would only broadcast news if the president is hospitalised or dying.

In the report, Cooper recalled his earlier interview with Obama about smoking. Apparently Obama was a smoker and still is, although doctors have told him to quit for health reasons.

When I came to Malaysia, one of the culture shocks I encountered was not how tall the Petronas Twin Towers are, but how much many Malaysians smoke.

A Malaysian reading this might not understand why this would be a culture shock for me. However, it was because where I come from, the level of smoking is much lower compared to Malaysia.

On top of that, there are tremendous differences when one imputes gender and age into the smoking paradigm.

For example, there are a higher number of women smoking in Malaysia. Where I come from, only old women smoke. Though it’s important to note that even these old women are quite unorthodox and one might say even infamous.

Where I come from, there is almost a belief that smoking will erode a young woman’s beauty and they are unpopular with men.

Another thing that has prevented women in my culture from smoking is the engineered belief that smoking is a man’s sport. One might even say it carries too much masculinity and testosterone to make it desirable or appealing for women. Smoking has come to be perceived as something the guys would do while the ladies watch.

The major problems smokers encounter, apart from health issues, are stained lips and teeth as well as grease-like fingers. This has been a presiding element in identifying smokers. As hypocritical as it may sound, men do not like their women to be like this.

Even looking at males aged between 20 and 25, one would rarely see them smoking in public. The only places where these young people might smoke are in night clubs or privately, far away from parents.

This is because the acceptance of smoking as a youthful enterprise is non-existent and highly condemned. In Tanzania if a young person smokes, he would not only attract disgusting stares from older people but also be considered a hooligan.

If you happen to roam around universities, you would notice an almost smoking-free environment, which is quite contrary to universities in Malaysia which host crowds of smokers dilapidating their lungs.

I find the issue of smoking quite challenging to deal with since it harbours complex stakeholders. Today, tobacco companies are profiteering on the back of probable lung cancer and other health detriments.

The government has forced these companies to attach some scary images to deter people from smoking and is also gaining tremendously from sin tax. We want to discourage people from smoking whilst at the same time earn in the name of financial burden to society.

Lastly we have the smokers, who have so many rights that it becomes impossible to even touch them. There is an element of consent and freedom of choice which are the fundamentals of a democratic society.

It’s interesting to listen to smokers telling you how smoking has not been proven to be bad for health. A friend told me he has a 90-year-old grandfather who has been a heavy smoker since his youth.

The presence of smokers makes it difficult to ban smoking since one favoured argument is that of black market dominance when taking such an action. The story goes on.

I believe smoking is a sign of the failure of society to deal with stress. As many smokers today are doing so in the name of de-stressing, I question whether society has failed to identify the best possible methods that have less detriments compared to smoking.

I agree that the globalised world is becoming a field that nurtures stress and indeed there is a need to address this issue. However, I do not believe smoking is the best stress reliever.

Having said that, I believe all of us are addicted to something when addressing the issue of stress.

The tragedy of any stress reliever is the fact that it becomes addictive. Addiction takes away the will to control oneself since one surrenders to the greater power of the reliever.

As a result, I believe the quest should be for at least the best relievers that are not harmful to the health of the user and his/her neighbour.

The writer can be contacted via stephencollin86@gmail.com.