Your views: Not enough to raise legal age for smoking
Manoraj Rajathurai
Not enough to raise legal age for smoking
I write with regard to "Legal age for smoking to be raised to 21" (The New Paper, March 10).
At a young age, smoking may seem macho. Movies with our favourite stars lighting up create the impression that it is a cool thing to do, when it is not.
When the health issues arrive, regrets flow thick and fast, and you ask: Why did I start?
But it is too late by then.
The introduction of tobacco was one of the greatest disservices ever done to man. Never using it can require an iron will. And quitting is even harder.
Why not live to the fullest through clean living with plenty of exercise? There is no substitute for a healthy and active lifestyle. One without cigarettes.
The burning sensation on the lips, the stench, the throat irritation, should be warning enough of how harmful the habit is.
A blanket ban on the sale of tobacco would be even better.
The current measure may simply delay the inevitable. And who is to say that those who are underage won't pick up the habit behind closed doors?
Temptation and peer pressure remain the critical factors when youth start experimenting.
Ridding our island of the offensive stick would make for a more pleasant and healthy environment all round.
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