Tobacco.org

Love it or loathe it - Is the cigarette here to stay? 

Like him, many smokers, both chain and occasional, don't keep a tab on the amount they spend on these 74 mm nicotine sticks, that come neatly packed and fit the palm snugly.

While a few may rue the amount spent on this so-called relaxant, Sonam, 24, another corporate employee, doesn't regret the amount she's spent. She reasons philosophically, "I guess it's okay for me, one has to try everything in life."

The ban has in fact increased the number of smokers, say observers. Studies have shown that, ironically, the more evidence accumulated by science on the effects of tobacco, the more lucrative the business becomes and wider the margin of profit. . . .

Writer Nandini Mehta, in her opinion piece for Outlook magazine, writes, "Its hard to explain to the uninitiated that life is about more than mere longevity; that what makes cigarettes so seductive is the very fact that each one is a tiny, sublime intimation of mortality."

Of course, all smokers admit that they know the ill effects of smoking. . . .

Yet none of them seem to complain unless they get a pain in their chests. The fact that it's injurious to health - and also the wallet - is perhaps the last thing on their minds. "I don't feel that I'm wasting money when I buy cigarettes, for me it helps me to think and work better," says Karma.

We know smokers are gifted when rationalising their habits and so, while the smokers smoke, society fumes. Not that the smokers care, for them not even the cost matters!

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