As if we needed another reason to stop smoking.
With no smokers in my immediate family, for a long time cigarettes were a terribly foreign object with a dark, forbidden appeal. I heard as much as any kid that smoking was bad, but the danger seemed unreal. In fact, I only held my first cigarette when I was 16 (not in teenage rebellion, I needed it for a fancy-dress party).
As I got older, things only got worse. I would look at men who smoked with a secret attraction. What sexy, reckless abandon! I mean, how could they just smoke? Don’t they know that cigarettes kill?
I’ve struggled to hate cigarettes. I even had a desperately self conscious attempt at being a smoker in university. But having thought long and hard on the matter, I think that smoking is bad.
“Well duh,” you say. We’ve all known for a long time how terrible smoking is. Anyone can recite that it’s bad for your health, bad for your family’s health and one day, more likely than not, when the repercussions of smoking kick in, everyone you love will suffer along with you.
But that’s not why I hate cigarettes. Smoking is an individual choice. Yes, maybe it’s a shitty, selfish choice, but I believe you have the right to take it.
I hate cigarettes because your habit doesn’t just affect you and your family. I’m not talking about second hand smoke, tax-payer dollars or any number of clichés bandied around by the superior or self-righteous. I’m talking about supporting cigarette companies who are capable of insurmountable evil.
Perhaps you think evil is too strong a word, but I’ll refer you to an example I read from Tim Flannery’s new book ‘Among The Islands’. It’s a memoir about his time in the 80s exploring the Pacific Islands for novel mammal species. Amongst his recollections of the wildlife, he has many touching stories of friendly locals in paradisiacal settings.
In particular, Flannery spoke fondly of Alcester’s Island. Here, in this untamed place, was a small village inhabited by incredibly friendly villagers. So remote was this island, the inhabitants and their culture were like a living time capsule.
“From what I could see of this village, which was tucked away among the coconut palms, it was entirely traditional… I was curious to learn whether any other ships and called recently at this remote place. A woman told me that the last vessel to anchor there was a yacht hired by one of the major cigarette companies. It was, according to her, luxurious, and it’s crew had given away free cigarettes before screening romantic films in which the actors looked sexy, fit and powerful as they puffed away on their cancer sticks. This example of modern capitalism sowing addition and death in paradise sickened me and left me wondering how long the traditional culture of the island might survive.”
That makes me sick, too.
You see, Western countries aren’t really a great market anymore. People are wise to the long-term damage of smoking, they understand the implications and so too do their governments who are increasing taxes to help deal with the strain on public health.
It is one thing to sell a dangerous product to informed adults. But to target people in remote areas who are unaware of the health implications? To actively take advantage of people’s naivety so they can reap another generation of profit? That’s fucked. That’s really fucked.
Unfortunately, you can’t separate your smoking habit and where the money is going. By buying cigarettes you’re helping an industry who sells cancer to people without the ability to treat it.
If you don’t want to make the smart decision, at least make the moral one. Quit smoking.
