I am writing with regard to the article “Extending the license to kill” (Oct. 17) by Tariq Al-Maeena. When my home country, Sri Lanka, banned smoking in public places several years ago, I was then a smoker. I expressed my anger at the time and regularly asked people if the ban was not a violation of human rights. And I suggested that we should form a smokers' rights union to defend ourselves against harassment. Notwithstanding the real meaning of human rights, I truly felt that a smoker has a right to smoke in an open area as it was not doing any harm to others. This was a wrong way of thinking, but, today, the fruit of that smoking ban in Sri Lanka is evident everywhere. Although no data is available to prove it, we find that we do not see many people smoking. From the city to the village, we rarely see young people smoking. Thanks to the government, the ban has worked so well that today we witness a drastic drop in tobacco usage in the country. As a result, you will not find many cigarettes in grocery stores, as it is no longer a profitable business. The nuisance of smoking is no longer a controversial issue, and most importantly we can have the comfort of knowing that our future generations are unlikely to become addicted to this dangerous habit. Saudi Arabia must follow this example, as Tariq Al-Maeena spelled out in his article. Extending the implementation of the ban on smoking in Jeddah by even one day is merely extending the license to kill. The false idea that smoking can help relax the mind must not continue to victimize the present generation. It should be correctly understood that the false picture of relaxing by smoking Shisha is merely a recipe for creating more stress. I would like to ask parents who smoke two questions: Do you really want your small children to become smokers in the future? And do you want your children killing time in Shisha cafes, as you do? We all want to see Saudi Arabia produce great soccer players and world class sportsmen and not weak youth whose talents are compromised by inhaling killer smoke. K.M.A. Perera, Jeddah
