This day is observed worldwide annually, with the intention that no tobacco products should be consumed within the 24-hour period (wonder if that worked?).
In the spirit of the day, public smoking in China’s capital, Beijing, is now banned after the introduction of a new law.
“China has over 300 million smokers and more than a million Chinese die from smoking-related illnesses every year,” stated www.bbc.com.
“Smoking bans already existed in China, but have largely failed to crack down on the habit.
“These tougher regulations, enforced by thousands of inspectors, ban lighting up in restaurants, offices and on public transport in Beijing.”
According to the World Health Organisation (www.who.int) the problem is very serious.
“The global tobacco epidemic kills nearly six million people each year, of which more than 600 000 are non-smokers dying from breathing second-hand smoke,” stated the website.
Additionally, it is estimated that smokers live approximately 10 to 15 years less than non-smokers.
Of course, all the statistics they give us are (at least a little bit) for shock and awe.
For example, there is no way to clearly say how long a person would have lived if this, or if that.
The numbers came out by comparing the average life expectancy of non-smokers with that of smokers.
I’ll admit, this shows that smoking clearly does reduce the life expectancy of most people, but it’s still only an estimate, begotten by comparing estimates and averages of different people without taking other factors into account.
Which can also be said of the death statistics.
I’m not saying I’m all for smoking and that it doesn’t do significant damage to the person’s body, but I sometimes feel the statistics are given in a way that skews the dangers, making them almost too big to consider realistically.
For example, it is estimated that there are close to one billion smokers worldwide (according to www.bbc.com; www.who.int), six million of whom allegedly die of smoking-related diseases every year.
According to www.ecology.com, 55 million people die each year, which represents a rate of eight deaths per 1 000 people, while the numbers mentioned above represent a rate of six deaths per 1 000 people, for smokers, due to smoking-related diseases.
These numbers might make it look like fewer smokers die than non-smokers, but I manipulated the process to show only what I wanted to be seen.
Nonetheless, although smoking might not be the genocidal maniac we’ve all been led to believe, it is still something that will mess up your body and leave you gasping for air at 60, while you non-smoking peers are still up and about at 70 or 80.
