BACOLOD City – Because youngsters are vulnerable to bad influences, the awareness campaign on the ill-effects of smoking and illegal drugs should start in schools, according to Metro Bacolod District Jail with Special Intensive Care Area (MBDJ-SICA) jail warden Chief Inspector Ruth Estales.
“I urge all you young people to never start smoking and never use illegal drugs. Instead, embrace a smoke- and drug-free society,” he said.
Estales recently discussed the hazardous consequences of smoking tobacco and using illegal drugs with 179 Grade 6 pupils of Crispino V. Ramos Elementary School in Barangay Taculing.
He told them smokers and drug users were not only damaging their health but also the community they live in.
Jail Officer 1 Ramel Lagos, meanwhile, disclosed that a stick of cigarette contains 4,000 harmful chemicals and this make smoking one of the main causes of deaths every year worldwide.
The exposure to second-hand smoke is also more dangerous than those who actually smoke, thus increasing the risk of developing heart disease, cancer, tuberculosis and pneumonia, added Lagos.
Videos and flyers were shown and distributed to the children, highlighting the severe health risk and effects of cigarette smoking in physical and mental aspects.
To cap the activity, the lecturers enjoined students and teachers to participate in a zumba which formed part of the jailb bureau’s “Sayaw Kontra Droga” campaign. (PIA-Negros Occidental/PN)
