THE recent article on underage smoking truly reflects the current sad state of affairs on smoking ("More students caught smoking; schools install detection devices" Monday).
In my neighbourhood in Marine Terrace, smoking can be seen everywhere within a small area where the food centre, convenience stores and coffee shops are. Pockets of smokers gather for a puff. It is a space shared by all, so it is hard to stop these smokers from lighting up.
At three designated smoking spots at eateries, the air is polluted and the floor littered with cigarette butts. These areas are also shared with non-smokers; only a small, yellow line separates them from the smokers. Nearby, there are 10 to 12 shops selling cigarettes. At the coffee shop, for example, the cigarettes are delivered to you with your drinks. The reality is that cigarettes are so easily available that anyone can get them.
If we are serious about dealing with smoking in public places, we need to consider serious action.
First, let us look at the supply. Is there a need for so many shops selling cigarettes? Smokers should have to go some distance before they can get their hands on their fix.
Next, do not allow smoking at all in places where food is consumed or sold. Smokers cannot eat and smoke at the same time, so why subject non-smokers to second-hand smoke, especially in places where families gather for their meals?
It is time to rid our coffee shops of this.
At some airports, the smoking area is an enclosed room. Smokers would not want to spend a long time there, breathing in the choking smoky air. We should set up such enclosed areas in our neighbourhoods.
There needs to be a physical separation between smokers and non-smokers, to contain the harm that smoking does. The current yellow-box system is not effective, as it encourages smokers to linger and puff away.
Malcolm Noronha
In my neighbourhood in Marine Terrace, smoking can be seen everywhere within a small area where the food centre, convenience stores and coffee shops are. Pockets of smokers gather for a puff. It is a space shared by all, so it is hard to stop these smokers from lighting up.
At three designated smoking spots at eateries, the air is polluted and the floor littered with cigarette butts. These areas are also shared with non-smokers; only a small, yellow line separates them from the smokers. Nearby, there are 10 to 12 shops selling cigarettes. At the coffee shop, for example, the cigarettes are delivered to you with your drinks. The reality is that cigarettes are so easily available that anyone can get them.
If we are serious about dealing with smoking in public places, we need to consider serious action.
First, let us look at the supply. Is there a need for so many shops selling cigarettes? Smokers should have to go some distance before they can get their hands on their fix.
Next, do not allow smoking at all in places where food is consumed or sold. Smokers cannot eat and smoke at the same time, so why subject non-smokers to second-hand smoke, especially in places where families gather for their meals?
It is time to rid our coffee shops of this.
At some airports, the smoking area is an enclosed room. Smokers would not want to spend a long time there, breathing in the choking smoky air. We should set up such enclosed areas in our neighbourhoods.
There needs to be a physical separation between smokers and non-smokers, to contain the harm that smoking does. The current yellow-box system is not effective, as it encourages smokers to linger and puff away.
Malcolm Noronha
