Sharjah municipality has taken action against those who smoke by completely banning it. They also imposed a penalty on the people that still smoke in public places. Although this is a great proposition, several people across the Emirates still do not take it seriously.
Worldwide, approximately 10 million cigarettes are purchased a minute, 15 billion are sold each day. People stand outside malls and supermarkets, and smoke. People passing by inhale this smoke and this toxic gas is unfortunately increasing health problems in many people.
Cigarettes are made from tobacco leaves that originally absorbed all their carbon from the atmosphere as they grew. When you smoke them you’re just returning this carbon. Thus cigarettes increase the content of toxic chemicals in the air, subsequently ruining the quality of the air and increasing air pollution.
Smoke that burns off the end of a cigarette may be even more toxic than the smoke inhaled by a smoker. This goes to show that cigarettes have a very harmful effect on the environment.
The most overlooked issue of the consumption of cigarettes is the subsequent discarding of the butts.
Cigarette smoke without an ounce of doubt is harmful to humans. Worldwide, tobacco causes 6 million deaths per year, that’s one death every 5 seconds. The only measure that we can take to rectify this situation is to stop smoking and stop littering. Take care of yourself and take care of the environment by putting a stop to smoking.
- The reader is a pupil of a Sharjah school.
