What will it take to stop the tobacco epidemic?
BMJ 2019; 365 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l4285 (Published 20 June 2019) Cite this as: BMJ 2019;365:l4285All rapid responses
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Addiction begins in childhood. Our parents reward us for good behavior with sweets like ice cream, candy, and soda. What a pity that the real sweetness of childhood is ruined by the false sweetness of junk food.
As teenagers, we copy our parents' addictions to bitter substances like alcohol, tobacco, and coffee. What a pity that the sweetness of young adulthood is ruined by the bitterness of addiction.
Sometimes we experiment with drugs and lose our safety, dignity, and sanity. When we ask our parents and doctors for help, they give us pep talks and pills, but no practical advice. Sometimes we become addicted to the doctors' pills.
In order to escape from addiction, we must review the mistakes of childhood. As children, our lives revolve around family, food, and fun - but not health. By giving us sweets, our parents unwittingly squander the magical health that Mother Nature gave us as children.
Mother Nature is wise and forgiving. She wants us to be healthy, but we must listen to her. She wants us to understand that childhood does not last forever, but the mistakes of childhood do. So we must give up our childish craving for sweets, and shift our adult focus from fun to health.
We must understand that our parents are not perfect, and that we should only copy their good habits, not their bad ones. Alcohol, tobacco, and coffee do not make us mature - they make us sick. Drugs do not make us cool - they make us cruel. When we take drugs, we hurt ourselves and others.
We must accept our limitations and understand that addiction is stronger than us. There is no way to compromise with addictive substances or to use them in moderation. We must eliminate all addictive substances from our life. This will enable us to regain our birthright - the magical health of childhood.
Competing interests: No competing interests
Addiction is a bad bargain with imaginary gains (euphoria) and real losses (sickness). Euphoria is a false, fleeting sense of well-being that makes addicts feel “high” and masks the sustained sickness of addiction. The euphoria and sickness of addiction are polar opposites that reinforce each other and trap addicts in a vicious cycle of Jekyll & Hyde mood swings that are unique for each addiction. For example:
1. Sugar creates the euphoria of feeling sweet, but the sickness of being bitter.
2. Chocolate creates the euphoria of feeling love, but the sickness of being lonely.
3. Vanilla creates the euphoria of feeling happy, but the sickness of being sad.
4. Cola creates the euphoria of feeling hydrated, but the sickness of being dehydrated.
5. Caffeine creates the euphoria of feeling energetic, but the sickness of being lethargic.
6. Alcohol creates the euphoria of feeling relaxed, but the sickness of being uptight.
7. Tobacco creates the euphoria of feeling aerated, but the sickness of being suffocated.
8. Opioids create the euphoria of feeling painless, but the sickness of being painful.
9. Hallucinogens create the euphoria of feeling wise, but the sickness of being confused.
10. Gambling creates the euphoria of feeling lucky, but the sickness of being unlucky.
Addiction is a deadly paradox. The more you know it, the more it fools you; the more you use it, the more it controls you; and the more you enjoy it, the more it hurts you. In short, addiction is hell you enjoy. To quote Virgil's Aeneid, "The descent to hell is easy."
Competing interests: No competing interests
Tobacco use can be avoided with individual lifestyle and habit modifications.
Tobacco plantations and sale regularisation can also help to prevent tobacco related epidemics.
A strict ban on smoking in offices, public places and sale of tobacco products to girls and children can also help to prevent tobacco related diseases.
So the need of the hour is the closure of industries producing tobacco products to prevent the tobacco epidemic.
Competing interests: No competing interests
Re: What will it take to stop the tobacco epidemic?
If the way to stop the tobacco epidemic is ‘comprehensive regulation’ of the tobacco industry, this implies there are some circumstances where tobacco use is legitimate or acceptable. And what circumstances, pray, might these be?
No amount of regulation will stop the tobacco epidemic; only abolition will stop it.
symonds@tokyobritishclinic.com
Competing interests: No competing interests