Sleeping with the enemy

The burning tip brightens as he draws in one hurriedly. Involuntarily, he releases the foreign smoke and the tip returns to its dullness.  But now he seems different. Now, he looks content. Looks relaxed. Satiated, precisely. He seemed uneasy, but now he is okay. Of course, it was his first puff of the day.               

For this victim, it was the first puff of his only cigarette of the day; his solitaire. For some her elsewhere, it would have been the first one of the day, some more to go. And for some other him, the first stick of the morning, and the day’s just started. So many more to light. 

Appetites range from one to forty cigarettes a day. Appetite, in this context, refers to that for self-destruction. All smokers take up the same treaded well-carved journey shared my millions leading to addiction and each is at a particular stage in it.

But, none of us wanted to be stuck here. We wanted to pay a brief visit, but we didn’t want to reside in this zone of addiction.

Another commonality is that all of us smokers set themselves afoot on this baleful journey with that one harmless casual puff.                                                                                                                              

                    

The smoker who’s reading and I, were both into that first puff with half-a-heart, but absolutely sure that there never existed even an iota of the possibility of us getting hooked. It actually was only for sheer fun, or for just discovering the so-much-talked-about high, or for trying it out just- the-once. For some though, it could have also been that just one friend in the whole gang smoked and his misery needed company, or because all friends smoked and peer pressure had to be given in to, or because none smoked and you wanted to be the trend-setting alpha-male. But, we were sure we had it in us; the control, the self-restraint to curb all that shouldn’t be.

But then, we started with the occasional stick. We, of course, still truly believed that we could quit it whenever it crossed our mind. This self-conceited belief is the potential addict’s denial phase.

Then we graduated to form our own preferences, our brands. 

Then, we smoked repeatedly.

And then, the word regularly became more appropriate. By this dawn, we had engaged ourselves in smoking opportunistically. But still, in our minds, quitting was just a call away.

This stage is, unfortunately, where almost half of India’s youth stand. What has actually happened by now is that, the diligent smoker has embraced dependence on nicotine.                                                   From here on, the smoker subconsciously finds situations of all shades to be reasons enough to light a stick. He smokes to relax. But he also smokes to get started. And he smokes to de-stress too. He loves holding the cigarette to his lips and he loves rolling the slim line between his fingers. He smokes to complement his coffee and he smokes after he’s dined. He smokes when he has a lot of work to finish, and also when he has none. He has one for the road and he later smokes one on the road.                                                        He is by then, an established smoker.

Now, all know that smoking is injurious to health. This is as true as its craving. It injures to kill. But one could argue that even accidents kill. So do drugs and weapons, suicides and homicides, AIDS and the plague.                                                                                                                                                                      

But tobacco kills more people than all the above combined.

Tobacco kills half of its regular consumers.

Tobacco kills 11,000 every day. This daily massacre is unparalleled. Arguably, human history might not be able to conjure a match against tobacco’s trail of annihilation.

Tobacco is the only substance known to mankind that affects every system and functioning of the human body.

Home grown contribution of tobacco cultivation has given our nation the distinction of having the highest number of oral cancer cases in the world.

These cigarettes are like just those diabolic friends of yours who give you good company, but slowly and certainly contrive your fall.

The WHO itself has declared tobacco a disease, not a habit.

So, we all accept that something needs to be done. We all remind ourselves of the same quite often. We smoke, and in our sole defense to the Almighty, we also sincerely hate the act. We know we’ll be happier when free from its clutches. But in the same breath, we are helpless. We are stuck in this love-hate relationship with the cigarette. We hate doing it, but we still do it.

As a note of consolation, allow me to tell you that you are not the only reason for your failure to quit. A large share of the blame has to be credited to the many makers of this product. These products are carefully designed to undermine efforts to quit using them. Tobacco companies are well aware that their survival is intact if they manage to keep attracting young new customers. They are even aware that if they don’t convert non-smokers by the age of 21, chances are slim that they ever will be able to, thence.

These products are, therefore designed carefully to addict. Furthermore, additives are used to sustain addiction. (Ammonia or ammonia compounds, which increase the speed at which nicotine is delivered to the brain / Sugars, which increase the addictive effects of nicotine and make it easier to inhale tobacco smoke.)

New tobacco users are also attracted by additives such as Menthol (which reduces throat irritation), flavourings such as Chocolate/ Coffee which make such products appealing to the youth.

So you see, a lot of engineering & research goes into ensuring our systematic victimization.

The crux, sad but true, is that quitting smoking is not easy. For the unlucky most, it is not simply a matter of choice. Statistically, 97% of quit attempts end in failure.  One needs half an eye to see that it is much more than an uphill task. But simply put, there is no other way out.   

So is there hope? Yes. We. The only hope.

Quitting is the only measure to minimize damage.

Apart from gifting ourselves with a new lease of life, we are also befriended by innumerable benefits gained from kicking the butt out:                                                                                                                     

Achievers on this front feel imparted with a sense of accomplishment and a quintessential self control.                                                                                                                                         

If we overcome this seemingly insurmountable evil, we free ourselves from the feeling of helplessness and slavery to the venom.

It is well known that the one who overcomes his own desires is counted braver than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is over self.

 

My mom often used to tell me when I was struggling through my checkered adolescence. ‘ Don’t get into something you’ll regret later’. Sorry mom, but I’ll get out of this too; alive.