XieCarol4

=Smoking Epidemic in Africa.=

Synopsis: In Kenya, the Jeevanjee Gardens in Nairobi is one of the very few places that smokers are allowed to smoke at. Smoking in public places are now banned, thanks to the ban that came into effect in 2007, but people are still addicted to tobacco in Africa. A man even admits that he hates smoking, but he just can't stop. He smokes about 40 cigarettes per day. This man says that he would smoke more if he had the money, and sometimes it gets so bad that he'll even go without lunch just to be able to buy cigars. It is believed that Africa is almost face to face with a smoking epidemic. The American Cancer Society & the Global Smokefree partnership claim that more than half of African countries will double their tobacco use in just 12 years if these trends continue. Promotion to smoke-free areas are now being put to action. While some countries are trying to stop tobacco use, the others refuse, because putting a ban to smoking will cause too much opposition within the public. In Egypt & Islam, wives are given the right to divorce their smoking husbands if the smoke affects their health, but there aren't any bans to smoking in public places yet. The tobacco companies are very powerful, they hook in Africa's younger generations, & aim for the poor, developing countries. "//If you drive from the airports to most towns you will see a lot of billboards promoting tobacco, saying that if you smoke you are going to be successful,//" says Dr. Ngoma. What will happen in Africa? Will the smoking epidemic be prevented or //promoted//?

Opinion: I think that promoting smoke-free areas around the countries is a good idea, but at the same time, very cruel. If you think about it, some people cannot live without tobacco because they are driven in by the nicotine that's put into the cigars, and if you take that away, they might go crazy. I think that instead of having more smoke-free areas, anti-smoking organizations should promote therapy of some sort, or other ways to prevent a person from smoking. I also think that the tobacco companies are really cruel & selfish because they basically want to take away Africa's younger generation's lives in exchange for money & wealth that they get when they purchase their tobacco products. First, they are ruining the image of Africa by having the youth smoke, along with lots of the older generations, and second, they are also ruining their companies image by putting such cruel acts into action.

Comparison: These two articles are different because BBC News talks more about Africa's smoking issues, & how people are supporting smoke-free areas, while Seattle Times talks more about South Africa trying to put the anti-smoking legislation into action, but some refuse to follow. In the BBC News article, it states that a lot of African countries are now drawn into tobacco, as shown with the quote, "//The report, released jointly by the American Cancer Society and the Global Smokefree Partnership, says that more than half of African countries will double tobacco use within 12 years if current trends continue.//" While in the Seattle Times article, a much older article, it states that Africa **was** a safe place to smoke, as shown in the quote, "//As U.S. smokers sink to new depths as social lepers, South Africa remains a safe haven for smokers for now, despite the efforts of a fledgling anti-smoking lobby//."

Sources: BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8355619.stm Seattle Times: http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19951011&slug=2146172