Chairperson, hon Minister, it is scientifically proven that it takes up to 30 days to clear the smoke of one cigarette from your lungs.
As a result of chain-smoking many end up with cancer and other diseases. Either way, the tobacco industry remains a lucrative market drawing newcomers from as early an age as nine years. While laws exist that children below the age of 18 years may not purchase tobacco, adults still use children as the mules for their daily purchase and shopkeepers are more than willingly to sell to minors to keep up their profits. We need to introduce harsh punishment for this and look at the method of randomly monitoring sales of tobacco to minors. How else are our children accessing tobacco if not buying directly from the shops?
We need to take a serious look at this hubbly-bubbly, also known as a water pipe, and falsely believed to be healthier than cigarettes. Its smoke contains numerous toxins known to cause lung and heart disease. While water does absorb some of the nicotine, there is still a sufficient dose of this drug to cause addiction. The MF supports the Bill. [Time expired.]