Children, More and More Addicted to Tobacco

Published on February 6, 2009 4:04 AM

In 2007 anti-smoking experts have released that over one million of Czech children have become addicted to tobacco. According to the statistics, 2,300,000 people smoke in the 10-million Czech Republic and half of them are children under 18.
The last study helped experts to see that the number of cigarettes smokers among children has doubled over the past 12 years and the consumption of tobacco by them has also increased twice.
These bad results made activists from the Doctors for a Healthy Society and the Chain of Love for Children projects and the government to include a solution to the epidemic of children's tobacco addiction in the health reforms that are under preparation.
Eva Kralikova, tobacco addiction treatment expert, said previously the age at which Czech children start smoking was lowering.
The smoking among Czech children is up even if the sale of cigarettes to children was prohibited in the Czech Republic.
The anti-tobacco activists criticized the fact that nicotine contained in cigarettes is not included among narcotics and Tobacco Companies are not obliged to inform consumers about the composition of nicotine and all known consequences of its use for human health on cigarette packs.
In this way activists consider that tobacco is not only a way to illegal but also legal drugs such as medicines and it is the cause of tens of serious diseases.
They added that 50 to 60 people daily die in the Czech Republic from diseases caused by smoking which is 18,000 people a year and the life expectancy of smokers is 15 years shorter compared to non-smokers.