Tobacco can be useful and unuseful...

On Thursday 2nd October 2008, I got amused by a story from India that “People caught smoking tobacco will be fined 200 Indian Rupees.” Banning smoking, tobacco selling and cigarette manufacture can reduce health risks but that means lesser profits for farmers and lesser taxes for world governments. I have seen people earn millions just by selling those demonized leaves. West Nile alone produces over 50 percent of Uganda’s tobacco. Banning the cash crop in Uganda may not be the solution. Switching the use of tobacco could just be the answer since the plant has enormous potential for medicine, cosmetics and energy. Some researchers believe tobacco can replace petroleum in cosmetics and has quality human food proteins for pharmaceutical therapy like the superior kind you find in milk and soybeans. The only problem is that tobacco is inedible but as the world finds healthier uses of the plant, smoking as a habit may one day become history.
In India, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica and Australia, it is illegal to sell tobacco. Hong Kong banned smoking on 1st January 2007 in the workplace and public spaces. New rules for smoking in India were passed on 2nd October 2008. The website www.india.com estimated that 40 % of India’s health problems stemmed from tobacco use. In 2007, Chandigarh became the first city in India to become ‘smoke-free’. The only country to have banned the sale and smoking of tobacco is Bhutan. The hospitality industry and restaurants that ban cigarette smoking haven’t suffered according to a report published in the online issue of Contemporary Economic Policy. The report, “Smoke-Free Laws and Employee Turnover,” is an indication of the link between advertising and increased tobacco use among India’s youth. India is the third largest tobacco producer (550 million kg annually) as well as the consumer in the world and earns several Rupees annually. Kanchipuram District already has a total ban on tobacco use. The use of tobacco among young girls in India has risen against 3.1 percent of adult women, a WHO report warns. Seventy four countries still allow smoking in health care institutions.
One more thing, smoking tobacco grown in hell drives away the Holy Spirit...