Tobacco Breaks Hearts

On 31st May 2018, Dr Sharmila Rao gave a talk on tobacco at 91 Springboard, Panaji, as it was ‘World No Tobacco Day’.  She touched on the history of tobacco, how it was used for prayers, medicines, etc, and said, “We are abusing something that was sacred.”

She went on to explain the ill effects of smoking not only for the primary smoker but for the secondary and tertiary smoker.  Tertiary smoking is when a person gets affected by residual nicotine and other chemicals that can settle on surfaces like curtains, walls, furniture, clothes, vehicles, etc.

Methods of tobacco de-addiction along with their advantages and disadvantages were also discussed here. These include nicotine patches, nicotine gums, organic smokes, spray inhalers, cognitive behaviour therapy, NLP, and more. One of her opinions was, “Nicotine patches do work for quitting provided the person wants to quit.” She also stated that peer acceptance is one of the triggers for this addiction.

Pic Credit - Shivang Mishra I NT GOGOANOW.COM