Don’t burn money to burn cigarettes

The UAE has taken many initiatives in order to improve the lifestyles of its citizens and its residents. However, recently, there has been a spike in a problem, not just in the UAE but throughout the world - smoking. As many of us already know that because of the excise tax the price of tobacco has been doubled for consumers in the UAE, but despite these measures taken by the government, the amount of tobacco being sold has not yet dropped. This is mostly due to addiction.

This is a worrisome problem indeed as smoking cigarettes and other tobacco related items not only harms the smoker but the people around him as well, through passive smoking. This results in poor health condition of residents.

Smoking causes respiratory problems in the smoker and makes it very difficult to breathe. It’s known to cause occasional headaches and increase hypertension, and all of that money and time wasted on smoking tobacco and ruining your health could be used for something more industrious or productive.

Once a smoker gets addicted it becomes very challenging to get rid of the habit. However, like every problem this also has a solution. To quit this addiction, we can always prepare a list of things that we want to do instead of smoking or develop a new hobby in the time you normally smoke. Drink herbal tea in your free time and keep a check on the amount of money you saved without buying cigarettes. Don’t feel afraid to fail as an average smoker quits smoking after a minimum of eight attempts. More effort needs to be put in by the society, which includes the government as well as the people to explain the long term irrevocable negative affects to the younger generation.

- The reader is a student based in Dubai