Will removal of ban on smoking in films encourage smoking amongst the youth?

The recent verdict to lift ban on smoking in films has come in as quite a dampener in the government’s crusade for banning smoking. Judge S.K. Kaul of Delhi High court has announced that “A cinematographic film must reflect the realities of life. Smoking is a reality of life! It is undesirable but it exists. It is not banned by law.”

Film Stars serve as role models to the society especially the youth. Research has proven that children or even youngsters try to emulate their role models. So by lifting this ban in films we are actually encouraging smoking amongst them. This brings about an even stronger challenge for all of us who are fighting the war against tobacco, to come together as one voice and keep pacing up the anti-tobacco campaign.

Third hand smoke, First hand problem

Third-hand smoke is tobacco smoke contamination that remains after the cigarette has been extinguished," says Jonathan Winickoff, a pediatrician at the Dana–Farber/Harvard Cancer Center in Boston and author of a study on the new phenomenon published in the journal Pediatrics. According to the study, a large number of people, particularly smokers, have no idea that third-hand smoke—the cocktail of toxins that linger in carpets, sofas, clothes and other materials hours or even days after a cigarette is put out—is a health hazard for infants and children..

There are 250 poisonous toxins found in cigarette smoke. One such substance is lead. Very good studies show that tiny levels of exposure are associated with diminished IQ 

In an interview with ScientificAmerican.com, Winickoff observes that children ingest twice the amount of dust that grown-ups do. Let's say a grown-up weighs 150 pounds [68 kilograms]. Let's say a baby weighs 15 pounds [seven kilograms]. The infant ingests twice the dust [due to faster respiration and proximity to dusty surfaces]. Effectively, they'll get 20 times the exposure!  

A point worth considering, for those who smoke at home and still wonder why their kids don’t make the grades in school!

Smoking Mothers Beware!

In a recent report published in the media it was found by Australia's New South Wales Cancer Institute that children whose mothers smoked during their pregnancy had stronger chances of getting cancer in their childhood.