Perhaps a lot of us is unaware that May 31 is World No Tobacco Day, a day each year wherein 24-hour tobacco abstinence is encouraged around the globe by the World Health Organization since 1988. This observance ushers in our country's response to discouraging Smoking and its ill effects, for what we may also not know is that despite the back-to-school rush due to the resume of classes the month of June is known for, it was officially the National No Smoking Month under Presidential Proclamation No. 183 series of 1993.
Tobacco use has long been found to be a major contributor in heart attacks, cancers (lung, larynx and mouth, and pancreatic), strokes and pulmonary diseases. Studies have also shown that smokers have shorter lifespan than non-smokers, making them more susceptible to diseases than the people who do not smoke. Tobacco products also contain Nicotine, a highly psychoactive drug causing physical and psychological dependency.
Second-hand smoke, or environmental tobacco smoke, has also been known to cause ill effects in people of all ages. This is why under Republic Act 9211 or the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003, Smoking is "absolutely prohibited in play schools, primary, secondary and tertiary schools, and with SchoolYear having resumed Monday, prohibiting the sale of tobacco products within 100 meters from any point of perimeter of schools, playgrounds and facilities frequented by minors is also enforced.
Schoolyear has once again started and we parents won't be around all the time to know what our kids have to deal with once they left home. One less thing to worry about is if we educate our children in the ill effects of smoking and second-hand smoke, discourage them from being smokers themselves by kicking the habit ourselves. After all, It is never too late, and no one is ever too old to say no to smoking, and Yes to a healthy lifestyle.
