admin“Hwani ari ega, arikuenda, anemari yake hwani iri yega,” he shouted as he banged the door signalling the driver to either stop or drive on still with the smouldering cigarette between his large dark lips.
The unkempt loony fellow literally blew smoke in passengers’ faces, but they kept their cool owing to their desperation to get to work on time.
“Itai four-four, mugarisane nevamwe apo,” he shouted, while tapping the hip of a middle-aged woman who was in the kombi.
The driver was not any better.
Also puffing a cigarrette looking sideways to shield passengers from the smoke, he made dangerous manoeuvres all the way from Budiriro right into town, threatening to add passengers on national road accident statistics. Such is the power of fag among kombi crews, gentle reader.
But they are not alone.
In the ghettos in which we live, it is not unusual to find people huddled together in one corner sharing the stick. In butcheries, you find the butcher responding to a craving for smoke while busy cutting meat.
The same applies in mortuaries, movie houses and at political rallies.
Even at filling stations, you find people puffing up no matter they will be near storage and dispensing facilities for the highly flammable petrol.
The situation is worse in bars.
People who smoke though without the financial stamina to buy their own cigars, are always asking for pulls from their peers.
“Eh mudhara ndarohwa nechikara, ndikatirewo. Ndipewo ndimboti svutei ndinzwe parere moyo blazo ndakuvara,” you hear people saying without shame.
Popularly known as “lighting up”, “smoking”, “puffing up”, “kamusvuto”, “kupwititidza”, “kudambura,” or “kumbumura” cigarette smoking has been part and parcel of life since time immemorial.
People love their smoke and actually have different brands they take depending on taste and class.
The poorest of the poor light up dry Paw Paw tree leaves or even grass, while the majority make do with factory made brands like Pacific, Madison, Everest, Kingsgate and Ochids.
There are so many other brands of cigarettes that people puff up, including export quality material.
Smoking is huge business, gentle reader.
People smoke for many different reasons and this cuts across all sexes — males, females and hermaphrodites. According to researchers, smoking is very addictive because tobacco contains a powerful drug called nicotine.
Smokers have also been influenced by clever marketing tactics of tobacco companies for many years.
Cigarettes are deliberately designed to give you a fast nicotine hit. It takes just 10 seconds for the drug to reach your brain from inhaled cigarette smoke. Nicotine causes addiction in much the same way as heroin or cocaine.
It is just as addictive as these “harder” drugs.
Nicotine is a stimulant that increases your heart rate and affects many different parts of your brain and body.
Smokers get a high because nicotine triggers the release of dopamine in the brain, a chemical linked to feelings of pleasure.
This also means that smokers start to make a mental link between the act of smoking and feeling good.
Because of this, smokers can also become addicted to abstract things like the taste of cigarettes or the feeling of smoking, as well as the nicotine itself.
Addiction explains why giving up smoking can cause nicotine withdrawal symptoms. These symptoms include cravings, irritability, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, restlessness and disturbed sleep.
As your body adjusts to the lack of nicotine, these symptoms will start to disappear and most will go away within a month. Withdrawal symptoms can be difficult to cope with but the benefits to your health are well worth it.
According to researchers, nicotine is a neurotoxin (a poison that kills nerve cells) found in tobacco plants. It acts as a defence mechanism to stop them from being eaten by animals.
However, in cigarettes, the level of nicotine is too low to cause poisoning. And the nicotine in nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) is a safe way to come off the nicotine in cigarettes. Using NRT can double your chances of successfully quitting.
Half of smokers die from smoking-related diseases. The tobacco industry needs new customers to replace the 114 000 people who are killed by smoking in the UK each year. Cigarette manufacturers make sure that:
- They know exactly why people smoke
- They cleverly market products to attract new customers.
In the past cigarette manufacturers have deliberately targeted children and young people.
The industry spends a great deal of money on making cigarettes seem glamorous, appealing, fashionable and attractive. Most smokers started when they were young and image conscious.
Young smokers often find it difficult to give up in later life. Cigarette advertising is now banned in the UK. So the industry is developing new and subtle tactics to avoid prosecution.
Many people claim that smoking helps them to cope with stress. But in fact, nicotine is a stimulant and won’t help you to relax. Smokers probably think a cigarette makes them feel better because when they aren’t smoking they suffer from nicotine withdrawal.
People have many other personal reasons for smoking. Smokers may:
- Use smoking as a support for when things go wrong
- Enjoy smoking with others as a shared activity
- Use smoking to start conversations and meet new people
- Smoke to make themselves look more confident and in control
- Think that cigarettes help them to keep their weight down
- Have a cigarette when they’re feeling bored or lonely
- People locked up in jails use fag as a medium of exchange.
One stick can earn a prisoner copious amounts of food and protection.
“Fodya imari yakasviba kujeri. If you have cigarettes other prisoners will never sodomise you or ill-treat you.
“You can even exchange these for food or other basics like toothpaste and bathing soap. You should never underestimate the value of cigarettes,” an ex-convict confided in this writer.
Outside prisons, people are earning a living through selling cigarettes. Children are being sent to school with money realised for the sale of fag. Countless people are even paying rent from this.
But these benefits do not outweigh the demerits.
People who smoke heavily develop an odour which affects their clothes.
Around smoking, there is exposure to cancer and fights as people battle to share the little they have.
Gentle reader, smoking is a choice, but it is vital to weigh the benefits and disadvantages.
Inotambika mughetto.
Online Reporter