Trend of smoking in public places rising in the country

 Everyone knows that smoking is injurious to health. Most of the smokers have good understanding that smoking is responsible for a lot of deadly diseases but they are, however, continuing till becoming compelled to quit it for any unavoidable medical reason.

Despite the Tobacco Control Law is in vogue, the number of smokers is increasing day by day in the country. Somewhere youths and elderly men are found smoking openly in the public places violating the standing rules. They also take phensydil, hemp, heroin and what not! Sometimes, they use to mix ganja (hemp) in the cigarettes to have extra sensation.

Subah Samajik Unnayan Sangstha, an active partner of Bangladesh Anti Tobacco Alliance (BATA) said, most of the drug addicts have backgrounds of taking drugs. They usually start smoking from curiosity having cigarette or ‘biri’ from their smoker friends that ultimately made them drug addict.

Now-a-days, it is a heart burning issue in the society and the authorities concerned do not find out better methodology to check drug addiction problems.

It may be mentioned here that the government of Bangladesh passed Tobacco Control Act on March 15, 2005 and to make it more effective passed the Regulations on May 30, 2006 with a view to bring the smoking under control.

At the primary stage of prohibition of smoking at public places the commoners became afraid of being fined or apprehended and they started to refrain from smoking.

However, at present all the anti-smoking efforts of the concerned authority seem not working well. Guardians thought that they at least might be able to make the children abstain from the bad habit to obnoxious fume by virtue of the government’s crucial steps.

Now the people of all strata of the districts have regained their courage to begin smoking the bad effects of tobacco like ‘biri’, cigarette, jarda, gul etc(tobacco oriented things) were done but consumers do not care it.

Some field workers of the tobacco traders are seen to propagate about their products and giving away packets of cigarettes to the people moving from market to markets and shop to shops.