TESTIMONIES by persons affected by tobacco smoking at Monday’s ceremony to mark World No Tobacco Day were a poignant reminder of the dangers of nicotine addiction.

Director of Communications at Air Jamaica Sandrea Falconer attested to the pain and hardship that come with losing a loved one to a tobacco-related illness. Her 66 year-old father died of lung cancer four months ago. He started smoking at the age of 16. “He said for them it was just fun, no one knew it was dangerous and by the time the warnings began appearing on cigarette boxes he was so addicted he could not quit,” Falconer said Monday.

Aside from the emotional stress in dealing with a family member who suffers from lung cancer, Falconer said treating the disease was also costly. “We spent well over a million dollars,” she said. “Cancer medication is expensive and I learnt then that many persons when told of the cost of the chemotherapy drugs just go home and wait to die.”

Falconer, in the meantime, proposed that a tax be imposed on cigarettes to finance the establishment of a treatment facility for lung cancer victims. “If they are reaping the profits they should share in the cost of the treatment of the diseases caused by smoking,” she remarked.

“Daddy was an incredible human being, with a great sense of humour, love of life and love of people,” Falconer said as tears rolled down her cheeks. “When my dad was alive I felt safe, I felt invincible. Cigarette has robbed me of my safety net. My father’s life was shortened because when he started smoking he did not know it was poison and by the time we started holding those companies responsible and warning labels were put on cigarette boxes it was too late and although he wanted to stop he couldn’t – he was too addicted,” she said softly.

Like Falconer’s father, 70 year-old journalist John Maxwell took up smoking at an early age. He was 15 when he started smoking. “I was told by my father that you can’t be a man unless you smoke. I didn’t like it but I tried it anyway,” he said. “It was like riding a bicycle with square wheels.”

It has, however, taken Maxwell more than 50 years of trial and error before he was able to actually commit to a course that will assist him in giving up this deadly habit. “I have given up smoking many times with the longest being six months… I have really tried to give it up, I don’t really want to die,” he said. “I start a course tomorrow (yesterday)…that is medically supervised,” Maxwell said Monday.

Said Maxwell: “People tell you it is a matter of choice and will power, but I can tell you that it has nothing to do with choice or will power. When you are shackled by this you will realise that to begin smoking is slavery.”

Maxwell also suggested that the government set up an addiction control programme that would provide counselling and advice for persons in need.

Meanwhile, Dr Winston De La Haye, head of the treatment committee at the National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA) and consultant psychiatrist at the University of the West Indies, said nicotine is the second leading cause of deaths worldwide, as one in two persons die from tobacco-related diseases. “The mortality rate is 30-1. In other words, persons who smoke are 30 per cent more likely to die,” he said, noting that tobacco addiction is considered a chronic illness.

Dr De La Haye urged all physicians to incorporate questions about smoking into their routine examination of patients, and said all patients should be advised to quit smoking.

At the same time, Dr Eva Fuller said one of the aims of the government’s proposed anti-tobacco legislation is to ban all tobacco advertisements in order to stem smoking at an early age. “Persons don’t start smoking over the age of 25,” she said.

World No Tobacco Day was celebrated under the theme “Tobacco and Poverty: A vicious cycle”. According to the World Bank, up to 15 per cent of the health care budget is spent on taking care of tobacco-related diseases in high income countries.

Every 6.5 five seconds someone dies of a tobacco-related disease, the World Health organisation said.