Doctors—and not only they—have long proved that smoking cigarettes (tobacco) is a ruinous, deadly addiction. The direct consequence is lung cancer, but also physical frailty and the psychological underdevelopment of the organism. Today, other lung diseases are added to this, including tuberculosis, which was brought under control in Poland in the post-war years. This addiction cannot be disregarded or trivialized, because it causes terrible biological devastation, especially among young people. Almost everyone smokes today: young and old, teachers and doctors, workers and office employees, priests and scholars. It is a truly terrifying fact.
I do not want to absolve candidates for suicide (yes, yes, there is no exaggeration in this statement, because they are candidates by choice!), but I must protest against so-called passive smoking, that is, poisoning the body with nicotine by habitual smokers, through being in the presence of non-smokers. Where is the tolerance recommended by the UN for differences, for a different lifestyle, which 1995 was supposed to represent? I protest against the widespread practice of smoking cigarettes in cafés occupied by young people, namely in “Arietta” and “Pegaz”. I am less bothered by beer being served there, but I am horrified by cigarette smoking, which leads to cancer so quickly, especially among young people. This cannot continue! Is it so difficult to ban cigarette smoking in a cultural and entertainment venue, or would that immediately mean the institution’s bankruptcy? Surely that is not the point. As the mother of growing children, I ask that my protest be considered.