Paradoxes of the alcohol and tobacco laws

I am not an avid watcher of the idiot box but one such ubiquitous instrument is placed directly before the place where I take my dinner. Recently my attention was drawn to the appearance of a screen of flickering multi coloured squares obstructing the view of the ongoing programme with the notice that it was being done in accordance with the recently adopted anti tobacco and alcohol laws. Soon after the coloured squares, the show resumed with the ghastly scene of the hero/villain, shot through his forehead with blood spurting out from the bullet wound.

Carlo

Apart from this repulsive sight, the paradox of it all was striking. The guardian angels of the young and perhaps the old as well from the evils of tobacco and alcohol did not want, perhaps, to show a glass, bottle or cigarette lest it inspires viewers to do the same but the sight of the ghastly killing was permissible! Little wonder if the number of killers will not exceed the number of tipplers in the country, soon.

It became a double paradox to me when I realised that my dear friend, Dr. Carlo Fonseka was said to be the authority overseeing compliance of the media with the law. The dear doctor who helped me to avoid passing to the netherworld many years ago by looking after me in an intensive care unit, I recall, was a rationalist, a leading one at that and a very active one - the president of the Rationalists' Association.

During the three decades since I've got to know him, he may have changed his opinion on many matters but certainly not on rationalism. His letters and articles in the press have frequent references to that famed rationalist and philosopher, Bertrand Russell. So how could he rationalise TV blocking out from view a bottle of liquor or cigarette and go on to show ghastly killings?

The argumentative Carlo, I am certain, would point out that his mandate is confined to compliance with the alcohol and tobacco law and he is not entitled to play God over men and morals. Carlo can be exculpated, but what about the moral paradox created by the government of President Rajapakse?

Passive smoking

There are many other contradictions or paradoxes created by the tobacco and alcohol law. Take the case of a hapless policeman put out on the streets to watch out for terrorists and seeing a man lighting up a cigarette on the road. It is an 'easy cop' and he will go after the miscreant but what happens when a passing CTB or private bus engulfs both in a cloud of black diesel smoke?

Cops rarely go after belching buses but they do so with vengeance after smokers. What is the greater offence or more injurious to health: Belching buses or cigarette smoke from one cigarette? The government can claim that it is moving against excessive exhaust emissions, but it is not being done with the same vigour as pursuing tobacco addicts.

Kassipu

There is also the problem of moonshine - kassipu as we call it. Though deadlier than the legal stuff, the authorities treat it in a much more indulgent way. Kassipu is certainly not advertised on TV or any other media and instead operates in the shadows in hidden dens and shrub jungles. But it is acknowledged that the amount of this highly injurious liquor consumed is in far greater proportions than all the legally manufactured local liquor as well as imported liquor. It is described as the biggest unofficial industry in the country.

Do we hear our preachers speaking out regularly against this menace? But issuing a liquor licence officially could have a gamut of conscientious objectors - preachers, police, opposition MPs and many others crying 'foul' in unison. The reasons are too complex to analyse in this column other than to say that it is a complex interaction of many powerful forces: kassipu manufacturers, politicians in power, police, and religious and social service organisations.

It is important to remember that kassipu thrives without any advertising. Good wine needs no bush, it is said. So is kassipu - good or bad.

The only answer to this dangerous brew being consumed is to open more outlets for legally manufactured liquor but that is political dynamite. Few had the courage to say so. The late Dr. N.M. Perera as finance minister tried it but was forced to retreat. He was called 'Pere-ra' for his daring.

Betel

There is a deadly silence on the chewing of betel whose effects are devastating. It is held that chewing of this leaf with tobacco and chunam is the main cause for oral cancer. The specialists concerned have sounded warnings but it has not been taken up by the media, politicians or the do-gooders.

Betel is an addiction that goes back to time immemorial. Our ancients did it and the argument goes that what was good for the ancients simply can't be bad for us. Also, indigenous and poor cultivators live on its income. Besides betel is not 'sexy' and battering betel producers is not macho as battering the British-American Tobacco Company.

We are not for a moment promoting sale or consumption of tobacco or alcohol. But we do resent those who want to infuse piety or good living on us for whatever reasons. We believe that each individual has the freedom to choose for himself and does not need to be 'converted.'

A recent report stated that the National Oral Health Survey conducted by the Dental Diseases Unit of the Health Ministry has revealed that imported arecanut products such as Babul and Beeda which are quite popular with our youth leads to oral cancer. Will the government act with the same alacrity as it does on alcohol and tobacco?

Playing to the gallery

A democratically elected government has to act rationally and not play to the gallery for its survival. The government, if it is rational in its policy in alcohol and tobacco should reconcile the contradictions pointed out above.

Why not eradicate the consumption of kassipu with the same vigour it is cracking down on consumption of legally manufactured liquor? What is the logic behind preventing passive smoking by law if on the streets one breathes far more noxious fumes such as carbon monoxide and sulphur dioxide? Why go soft on betel chewing because it is an indigenous habit?

When talking of laws to prevent the abuse of alcohol and tobacco it is also time to ponder on the greater paradox created by the government which frames these laws, having among its front rank leaders who have heroin dealers as their strong arm men to do their dirty work.