American drug addiction is a very serious matter but not much attention has been paid to it except for falsely blaming China for their own problem. The addiction is across the board, from the low down American Ah Beng, aka hillbillies, to the celebrities, the rich and famous, and the royalties in the White House. Biden has just pardoned his son Hunter for all his crimes, including drug offences and addiction.
In a way, the spread of drug addiction is quite similar to the dying days of the Qing Empire when addiction and drug trading involved the elites and the mandarins, in America today, including the political elites. When the top is rotting, there is no political will to want to stamp out this disease as it would affect many important people. And there is the conspiracy of the CIA and the lobbyists to make sure there is no serious effort to contain this scourge. This is in another way why they condemned Duterte and conspired to bring him down for his tough and ruthless persecution of drug lords and peddlers.
Drug addiction is now a part of life of the elites and well to do in America. Many of them are enjoying their addiction with impunity and in the comfort of the White House and Capitol Hill. The death toll from drug addiction is as high as 75,000 deaths annually. This is no small change.
The Chinese are fortunate to have the front row seat to see how this menace is destroying America like the days when it destroyed China. Though drug addiction and crimes in China is quite well control, the taking of soft drugs like cigarettes is still widespread in China, with the users thinking or bluffing themselves that cigarettes are not drugs. It is not just a mild drug, the manufacturers are adding more addictive substances into the cigarettes to get the smokers hooked for life. See how desperate the smokers behaved when they are deprived of it for a while and the craving starts, no difference from the drug addicts, except it is readily available and the withdrawal symptoms did not have a chance to get full blown.
Deng Xiaoping was the first Chinese leader to stop his cigarette addiction after being a standard chain smoker like most of the Chinese. Unfortunately he did not live long enough to stamp this addiction and kill it for good in China.
Singapore was lucky to have a strict disciplinarian in Lee Kuan Yew to stop this menace and dirty habits from spreading. Now the govt has lowered the age for buying and using cigarettes to 15. Hope this will continue to be lowered and end this drug addiction for good. This is something that China did not really learnt from Singapore or has not implement it successfully. China is still drugged by cigarettes!
The Chinese should reflect on how drug addiction destroyed their country in the 19th Century, destroying the people's will to work, to be a normal human bean, instead of spending their time on the bed or floor with the opium pipes. Stop the drug addiction, stop the spread of cigarettes, another form of drug that is disguised and lied to the addicts aka smokers as harmless, that it is not a drug. Do not let the spread of cigarette smoking be an unending disease in the Chinese society. Wipe it out for good. If not, from cigarettes, many would graduate to more deadly form of drugs. Cigarettes are just a first step, an introduction to drug addiction.
See how clean Singapore's trains are, how fresh smelling our hotel rooms, cinemas and restaurants, parks and public places. See how pleasant are the smells of non smokers but the unpleasant stench when in the company of smokers. Many hotel rooms in China, though specially requested to be for non smokers, still smelly like hell because of stale cigarette stench left behind by smokers.
Many wise countries and leaders are imposing more bans on cigarettes.
PS. Russian MP and head of the State Duma Sports Committee, Amir Khamitov, has suggested banning people from smoking while walking in the streets....“Banning smoking while walking will make cities cleaner and more pleasant to live in. In addition, the ban will help reduce the spread of smoking among young people,” the MP wrote....“The fact is that smoking while walking harms those around you simultaneously in several ways. This includes passive smoking for those nearby, pollution of the environment by cigarette butts randomly scattered, as well as setting a negative example for children and young people,” the MP explained....
Over the past decade, Russia (like Singapore) has gradually toughened its stance on
smoking in public places. The 2013 law banned smoking in restaurants and
bars, long-distance trains, and in the entrance halls of housing
blocks. Smoking is prohibited in outdoor locations, such as parks, with
the practice also illegal in the vicinity of entrances to most public
venues. The restrictions were later expanded to different types of
electronic cigarettes, vapes, and other unconventional smoking methods. RT
China learns a lot of good things from Singapore and made them better than Singapore. Anti smoking is one thing that China did not learn and smoking is still widespread in China.
ReplyDeleteHope China does not return to the decadent and stupid days of drug addiction. Let the Americans do it happily.
Sinkieland still has smokers lighted up their cigarettes and smoking as they r walking in streets and areas where the CCTV or mobile NEA CCTV not station there. Smokers used these grey areas to smoke while they walk, these 2nd hand smoke would jus get it's way to any passer-by behind or around the smokers who smoke while walking. Sinkieland still need to do more to stamp out some violators.
ReplyDeleteBiden pardoning his son is opening up a can of worms. Now there are calls to pardon those prosecuted for the January 6th insurrection. After all the effort wasted in creating a hullabaloo for four years of Biden in the White House, it is all going to be an exercise in futility. Same as the four years of wasted effort in chasing after Russia gate during the four years of Trump's first term.
ReplyDeleteWhat is justice in the USA when it can be perverted by the very person expected to uphold justice. The pardoning of Hector Biden was said to be due to changing conditions. What rubbish is that? It is all to make sure that Hector Biden is not going to jail when Trump gets into the White House.
Many in HDB flats are suffering in silence from the invasion of smelly cigarette smokes into their rooms., harming them and their babies and children.
ReplyDeleteIs it a gospel truth in the mantra that smoking is the main cause of lung cancer? When it was reported that not a few non-smokers, like my wife's sister-in-law, also succumbed to lung cancer, what was the explanation?
ReplyDeleteThe narrative then turned to what they claimed about inhaling 'second-hand smoke' by living with smokers in the family. This eventually leading to having smoking and non-smoking corners in coffeeshops. How realistic is that ruling when smokes are blown by gust of wind? When it was again reported that many with no smokers in the family also succumbed to lung cancer, what was the explanation?
The narrative then turned to people who do cooking too often as an explanation. Hmmm...that does square off with people eating out more to avoid cooking? I just happen to like conspiracy theories that sometime belie the truth. However, that sounds like the death warrant for people working in kitchens of restaurants, Mcdonalds and KFC. They are now doing dangerous jobs and living lives dangerously, right?
One thing though, they never want to link lung cancer with motor vehicles puffing out toxic fumes everywhere, and people breathing them in throughout the day. That is killing the proverbial goose that lay the golden eggs. That is realistically worse than 'second-hand smoke' to say the least. But as in all things 'too big to fail' or 'too important to touch', It becomes untouchable.
Wonder what the latest narrative is, coming out of the issue, as I have lost touch with reality. Forgive my rambling.
Lung cancer can be caused by many things. Cigarette smoke is just one of the major causes. If it can be avoided, it is best to avoid it to minus one more cause of lung cancer.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, many smokers lived a very long life. That does not mean that smoking is not harmful.
The Chinese must not forget what it was like when the whole country was drugged, the pain and suffering, the humiliation and rape of the people.
ReplyDeleteThe drugged Chinese lost the will to work, to fight, to live, just get drugged and hoping that the tragedies would go away or die with them.