Smoking ban is something of a worldwide phenomena. And Nepal has also been infected by this. In this podcast, we discuss about the ban, its good, bad, and possible loopholes. In Nepal we have the supposed “ban” of TikTok, porn, amongst other things. There are various reasons why people smoke: under the influence of movies/ music-videos to stress to peer pressure to being bored. We wonder if we don’t go to the root of the reasons why people smoke, simply outlawing smoking might not have the desired effect.
A lot of Kathmandu-ites confide to me that the atmosphere around the place is such that speaking about or raising voice against a touchy issue will lead to an atrocious backlash. So finding someone to discuss why the smoking ban that is being touted about so much in this city might actually not be all that beneficial was difficult.
There used to a position in the Vatican City- of that of an "advocatus diaboli", someone who used to argue against the canonization of certain saints. In the modern times, after Pope John Paul II took all the power away from the devil's advocate, the beatification of saints took place a much sharper pace. But being the advocatus diaboli in certain cases is still a wonderful way of learning the nuances of "the other side" of the debate and improving dialectics.
So I along with my chum Rupesh Kumar Sah thought we'd play the devil's advocate in a conversation amongst ourselves to discuss what positions could be taken against the widespread but very palpable fear of the banning of tobacco products in Kathmandu valley. There are the economic ramifications of such an action, especially to people who sell tobacco in the smallest of cubicles, which one would fret to call a "shop". And when we talked to vendors like these, they were visibly, and there might have been more angst in the invisible spectrum, upset about such a decree.
I, for some reason, detest this baby-ish approach of writing "Smoking kills" at every movie scene where someone is found smoking. The government and the movie board might treat me (and the wider audience in general) with some degree of respectability of not being so obtuse as to not know that smoking is harmful- after all it is common knowledge. It is not the case that the smokers themselves are unaware that they're risking their lives when they do.
There's a curious little music band whose song "Apocalypse" has some of the most hauntingly romantic words:
"Your lips
My Lips
Apocalypse."
I feel that the name of the band "Cigarette After Sex" adds some evocative layers to these lyrics. I don't know if Steig Larson could have come up with his "Girl with the Dragon tattoo" series without 60 or so cigarettes he smoke each day or Christopher Hitchens' soul-stirring remark when asked about the cancer set forth after a life of heavy-smoking and drinking:
"I have been....knowingly burning the candle at both ends and finding that it often gives a lovely light."
would have been so in line with the imperishable words "Discover what you love and let it kill you"- a quote that inspires a lot of people into reading, and drawing inspiration from Bukowski's (and Hitchens') writings.
For that banal slogan "Smoking Kills", I often am quick to retort, "What doesn't?" Refined sugar kills. So does processed food, overdose on medicine, and the list goes on. And on!! And on-er!
Where are the lines when we draw a ban? Be my advocatus diaboli!!
Disclaimer: There is overwhelming scientific consensus that Smoking is injurious to health- this is more or less incontestable . We’re not trying to give anyone the impression that smoking can do any good. We’re simply delving into ideas about the arguments from the other side- what loopholes exist in banal statements such as “Smoking kills” or “Tobacco is injurious to health”.
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The two men who are at the forefront of WiseDumb podcasts are Karan Bhatta and Rupesh Sah who are researchers, educators and media personalities. You can reach out to them for a collaboration:
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