STUDENTS were urged to refrain from taking up the habit of smoking while in their secondary school years yesterday, as doing so will make them more likely to cultivate illicit drug habits in the future.
“From research done by Columbia University’s Centre on Addiction and Substances Abuse, we are able to see and understand that teenagers who take up smoking early have a higher possibility of eventually abusing drugs,” said Director of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Hj Abdul Aziz Orang Kaya Maha Bijaya Hj Othman, who was guest of honour at the Anti-Smoking Day yesterday at Sultan Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien (Soas) College.
The director further stated that studies made by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) in the United States have shown that students in secondary schools who smoke will end up abusing cannabis up to 20 times more than non-smokers.
Similarly, young smokers are likely to abuse other drugs up to 13 times more than non-smokers, added Hj Abdul Aziz.
“Most parents are not very concerned about their children smoking as they perceive smoking to be the norm and therefore acceptable, and not as dangerous as drugs,” he said.
“What they do not know is that smoking addiction can eventually pave the way to the abuse of illegal drugs,” he added, emphasising the theme of the event, “Smoking: The Gateway to Illicit Drug Abuse”.
Hj Abdul Aziz also pointed out that there was scientific evidence that proves smoking is one of the health hazards that could bring about chronic diseases such as cancer and others that could eventually result in death.
Most students start smoking before their college years, therefore, the director told the students that “if you can refrain from smoking in your secondary school years, you can refrain from taking up the habit altogether” as “prevention is better than cure”.
He also urged the youth in the Sultanate to join and support the Anti-Smoking Day programme initiated by NCB to counteract the problem.
During the event, a pledge recital by the programme participants was made, whereby they vowed to devote their minds and hearts to following the programme diligently and do the best they can after the programme to not take up the habit of smoking.
In the afternoon, students from the participating schools took part in an activity called Explorace, which required them to find seven different stations dispersed throughout the Soas College campus to complete a special task to test their physical and mental capabilities.
The participating schools were Sultan Hassan Bangar Secondary School, Sekolah Tinggi Perempuan Raja Isteri (STPRI), Sultan Jamalul Alam Secondary School (SMJA), Paduka Seri Begawan Sultan Science College (Maktab Sains), Menglait Secondary School and Katok A Primary School.
The closing ceremony of the Anti-Smoking Day programme will take place tomorrow at Soas College, however, the NCB will continue to conduct briefings for schools until April 16, 2010.
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