Urban Sociology Project (AR-203)

TABLE OF CONTENTS……………..

Abstract Page

1. A Brief Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2. Reasons for Teenagers to Smoke. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3. The Café Civilization in KARACHI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4. Karachi Youth sinks deeper into Hookah. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5. Sheesha (hookah) Puffs more harmful than Cigarettes. . . . . . . . . . . . .

6. Action By Law & Regulatory Authorities Against Tobacco Use. . . . . .

7. Hazards of Tobacco & Serious Risks To health. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

8. Different Facts, Statistics, Charts & Graphs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

9. Conclusions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Urban Sociology Project (AR-203)

Abstract

The aim of this study is to explore the prevalence of tobacco consumption in young people and spread already existing awareness in the society. It will be shown through different statistics and charts that the youth of KARACHI (both males and females) are indulged in this habit and they took this as act of fashion, which is infact a serious hazard to health and environment. Law & Regulatory Authorities of KARACHI have defined certain laws against Cigarette as well as Sheesha (Hookah) smoking. Different studies and reports conclusions that explain the hazards of the smoking. Pictorial presentation would also clarify some of the main objective.

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1. A Brief Introduction:Tobacco has a long history in the Americas. Tobacco was grown by American Indians before the Europeans came from England, Spain, France, and Italy to North America. Native Americans smoked tobacco through a pipe for special religious and medical purposes. They did not smoke every day. Tobacco was the first crop grown for money in North America. In 1612 the settlers of the first American colony in Jamestown, Virginia grew tobacco as a cash crop. It was their main source of money. Other cash crops were corn, cotton, wheat, sugar, and soya beans. Tobacco helped pay for the American Revolution against England. Also, the first President of the U.S. grew tobacco. By the 1800's, many people had begun using small amounts of tobacco. Some chewed it. Others smoked it occasionally in a pipe, or they hand-rolled a cigarette or cigar. On the average, people smoked about 40 cigarettes a year. The American Tobacco Company was the largest and most powerful tobacco company until the early 1900's. Several companies were making cigarettes by the early 1900's. In 1902 Philip Morris Company came out with its Marlboro brand. By 1944 cigarette production was up to 300 billion a year.

In 1964 the Surgeon General of the U.S. (the chief doctor for the country) wrote a report about the dangers of cigarette smoking. He said that the nicotine and tar in cigarettes cause lung cancer. In 1965 the Congress of the U.S. passed the Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act. It said that every cigarette pack must have a warning label on its side stating "Cigarettes may be hazardous to your health."

Since the 1980's, federal, state, local governments, and private companies have begun taking actions to restrict cigarette smoking in public places. The warning labels were the first step. Tobacco companies cannot advertise cigarettes on television or radio. It is against a law that was passed by Congress in 1971. Many cities across the U.S. do not allow smoking in public buildings and restaurants. Since 1990, airlines have not allowed smoking on airplane flights in the U.S. State taxes on cigarettes have increased. As it becomes more difficult for tobacco companies to sell their products in the U.S., they are looking outside. U.S. tobacco companies are now growing tobacco in Africa, South America (Brazil and Paraguay), India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Greece, Thailand, and the Dominican Republic. Fifty percent (50%) of the sales of U.S. tobacco companies go to Asian countries, such as Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Taiwan.

Do You Know..?

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Tobacco contains nicotine, a highly addictive drug that makes it difficult for smokers to kick the habit. Tobacco products also contain many poisonous and harmful substances that cause disease and premature death. Did you know that out of a group of 1000 smokers (age 30), that a full quarter of them (250!) will die of smoking-related illnesses prior to completing middle age, an additional quarter will die prematurely from smoking-related illnesses shortly after retirement age, and another large group will develop debilitating chronic illnesses as a result of their smoking? Most people don't know the odds of getting sick as a result of smoking are really that bad, but when you do the numbers, that is how they come out. For many people, truly understanding the very real dangers associated with smoking becomes the motivating factor that helps them to quit.

2. Reasons for Teenagers to Smoke

Some want to act cool or act like someone special or dangerous

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They want to get attention

They are curious about cigarettes

Peer pressure

They are stressed or nervous

Reality..!!Many Tobacco ads are specially made to attract teens. The purpose of cigarette ads and promotions is to make sure smokers keep smoking, get people who quit to start smoking again and increase the number of cigarettes people smoke each day. Most importantly, cigarette ads and promotions encourage young people to start smoking.

3. The Café Civilization in KARACHI

Philip Morris' Marlboro cowboy ads, first created in 1954, also attract young people. These ads show a tough or macho, independent cowboy. A sad fact is that one of the cowboys pictured in Marlboro ads, Wayne McLaren, died of lung cancer. He died in 1992 after smoking for 25 years. Still about half of all youth smoke Marlboros

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Karachi, the city of lights, has greatly progressed through the ages-the teenagers have always dominated most of the eras, but their way of living had been different each time. Always had there been “socialization” but never had it been so dominant. Every street at Zamzama has at least one café and each time you pass by, you will see a throng of youngsters either making their way in or out. Where such an activity does have its positive effects, the negative effects are also hard to ignore. Especially when these upshots are solely moving the youth of Karachi in a major way.

With the increased demand for these cafes, entrepreneurs are finding a profitable way to find their means into the highly competitive market. Where this is encouraging a lot of business and in some ways economic growth, the way Karachi is getting filled with these cafes is not admirable in some ways too. A website, “Karachi Snob” gives a list of the cafes currently present in Karachi presently and it comprises of a handsome number of 30+ cafes and an intelligent assumption would be that there are some missing. Yes, they must be contributing to some amount of expansion in Karachi but what else are they contributing to? Not to something constructive I guess.

A scientific report claims that one puff of Sheesha is equivalent to smoking 20 cigarettes and with experience, 75% of the teenagers are aware of this fact. Yet the number of Sheesha addictors is growing each day.  with each day these cafes are also becoming a symbol of these activities: a place where you can easily smoke without the fear of being caught by an elder, a place where you have easy access to Sheesha and a place where drugs can also be taken without restrictions. While, for many this café culture may not be posing any general threat but if assayed properly, their detrimental effect will become clearly visible.

4. Karachi Youth sinks deeper into Hookah

It seems to be quite the rage among students of the Karachi, especially for those at the University level. Recent reports talk about the surge in hookah and water pipe smoking addiction among these youngsters. The downside- they don’t know how

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injurious these addictions are. As they sink deeper into drug dependence, researchers say that these addictions are as bad as cigarette smoking.

Why Teenagers Shouldn’t Smoke….?

-Bad skin (skin tumor)

-Bad breath

-Bad-smelling clothes and hair

-Reduced athletic performances

-Increased risk of illnesses

-Greater risk of injuries and slower healing time

5. Sheesha (hookah) Puffs more harmful than Cigarettes

Sheesha smoking has become fashionable over the last decade in Pakistan, especially in Karachi. Smoking Sheessha is trendy amongst youngsters. The misconception that it is harmless..!!!!

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When you smoke from a hookah, you inhale flavored tobacco from a hose that is attached to an ornate pipe, which is usually made out of glass or clay. There's water in the bottom, which filters the smoke leading people to believe hookahs are safer than smoking cigarettes, but they're terribly mistaken.

The problem is that hookah users tend to inhale far more smoke than cigarette smokers. More smoke means higher levels of nicotine, carbon monoxide, and other nasty chemicals. In a study published by the World Health Organization, they found that an average cigarette smoker took 8 to 12 puffs, and inhaled 0.5 to 0.6 liters of smoke over five to seven minutes. A hookah smoker may take anywhere from 20 to 200 puffs in one night, and each puff equals about one liter of smoke each. That means one hookah smoking session could equate to smoking 40 to 400 cigarettes. Yikes!

As Shown In Below Table..

Sheesha (Hookah) Smoking

Cigarette Smoking

Chemical Elements : carbon monoxide, charcoal, nicotine, arsenicTAR, cobalt, chromium and lead

Chemical Elements : Ammonia, Arsenic, Carbon monoxide, Cadmium, Lead, Naphthalene, nicotine and Hundreds of others depend upon the manufacture

1 session of Hookah=20-200 puffs=40-400 liters smoke

1 Cigarette= 8 to 12 puffs =0.5 – 0.6 liters of smoke

6. Action by Law & Regulatory Authorities Against Tobacco Use: A resolution against smoking SHEESHA (the hookah or water pipe) in restaurants and public places was unanimously passed during the Sindh Assembly session on Tuesday, May 10.

MPA Bachal Shah moved the resolution and said that SHEESHA is the worst form of intoxication. He told his colleagues that most five-star hotels in Karachi and other restaurants across the province were offering this deadly product in a variety of flavours. Shah accepted that the practice of smoking the

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hookah was common in the rural parts of Sindh, where both men and women indulge in it.

“But shisha is a modern form of the hookah that uses hazardous, aromatic tobacco to attract teenagers,”

he added.

“Not only boys, but teenage girls also go to restaurants and smoke SHEESHA,”

He pointed out. “The Narcotics Act is available but there is no pragmatic approach to implement it.”

After a long discussion, the resolution was passed unanimously.

7. Hazards of Tobacco & Serious Risks to health

There are 1.1 billion (out of 6.94 billion as of July 1, 2011) tobacco users worldwide.  Smoking can also ruin your appearance by staining your teeth, yellowing your fingernails, and causes wrinkles, gum disease, tooth decay, and bad breath.

Smoking can cause a decrease in athletic performance, such as not being able to run fast or jump as high.

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Chronic coughing, more phlegm in your mouth, and asthma are also effects that smoking can have on your body.

Hazards of Sheesha:Looking at the growing trend amongst the youth of Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore to puff shisha as a symbol of autonomy and freedom believing that it’s harmless fun is factually incorrect.

A recently-released World Health Organisation report on the hazards of shisha raised concerns on its growing popularity in developing countries.

In a survey conducted last year by the Aga Khan University it was observed that over 90 per cent of the children surveyed have experimented with this form of tobacco. This included both boys and girls as young as six years old. The sad part of the survey was that most of these youngsters did not know that shisha smoke contains tobacco.

Urban Sociology Project (AR-203)

The research conducted on the use shisha clearly shows that it has serious health consequences, particularly on the lungs, heart and the food pipe. Its smoke contains hundreds of potentially dangerous substances including carbon monoxide, charcoal, nicotine, arsenic, cobalt, chromium and lead.

Smoking is also linked to increased risk of cancer of the lungs, mouth and urinary bladder.

One study has also shown that shisha use increases the risk of tuberculosis. Using shisha in restaurants or at home where children are present increases the risk of pneumonia, asthma attacks and sudden infant death syndrome. There is an urgent need to educate the public about the dangers of shisha.

8. Different Facts, Statistics, Charts & Graphs:

Health Stats Of Pakistan

Access to sanitation 87% [57th of 129]

Birth rate, crude > per 1,000 people 26.1 per 1,000 people [67th of 195]

Children Underweight Rate 13% [6th of 95]

Contraception 24% [66th of 89]

Dependency ratio per 100 82 [39th of 166]

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Drug access 50% [117th of 163]

expenditure per capita > current US$ 13.6 $ [170th of 186]

Hospital beds > per 1,000 people 0.7 per 1,000 people [60th of 149]

Infant mortality rate 74.43 [28th of 179]

Life expectancy at birth, total > years 64.86 years [121st of 194]

Malaria cases > per 100,000 58 [63rd of 94]

Physicians > per 1,000 people 0.74 per 1,000 people [17th of 148]

Probability of not reaching 40 20.1% [50th of 111]

Probability of reaching 65 > Male 56.9% [101st of 159]

Smoking prevalence, males > % of adults 36 % [6th of 42]Spending > Per person 18 [108th of 133]

Tobacco > Cigarette consumption 564 [76th of 106]

Tobacco > Total adult smokers 22.5 [84th of 121]

Total expenditure on health as % of GDP 3.2% [172nd of 185]

Water availability 2,961 cubic meters [105th of 169]

SOURCE: World Health Organization

Diseases Caused By Tobacco Use..

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9.

Conclusions….Although there has been substantial

progress on tobacco control in many

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Countries, more work need to be done. The successes already achieved can and

Must be expanded upon so that all people

Worldwide are fully protected against the

Harms of tobacco use.

Continued progress will stop millions of people from dying each year from preventable tobacco-related illness, and save hundreds of billions of dollars a year

In avoidable health-care expenditures and productivity losses. It is up to us to make

Sure that this occurs.

Urban Sociology Project (AR-203)