Smoking Vapour

Phoenix, Arizona

After school at the then Navua Indian School (now known as Rampur Primary School), I would go to Naitonitoni a lot, where the Navua Police Station residential cassava farm was, and smoke cigarettes.

From 1968-1970 while attending Saraswati College I would smoke any break time I got, running into the guava bushes in Davuilevu.

I couldn’t wait after school to smoke cigarettes. I remember I would sit in the last seat in the Cautata Bus just to smoke.

I didn’t realise even as a student that cigarette smoking could be so addictive.

I tried to hide my smoking habit from my relatives and school teachers, but it was very hard to stop smoking once you’re hooked. Today, I’ve stopped smoking for 29 years and have been sober (alcohol free) for 30 years, but my lungs are damaged for life.

I have asthma and it affects my breathing. I suffer from shortness of breath, so to breathe normally on a daily basis I take steroids and resort to my inhaler plus a variety of pills and other medicines.

Once a month I go for breathing treatment at the U.S Military Veterans Hospital. One day after taking my medicines I sat in a room in front of a woman who was smoking vapour smokeless e-cigarettes.

All of a sudden, I started suffering from shortness of breath, but I was confused because I had just taken my medicines.

I finally saw the woman when I stood up to go to the breathing room, so I went outside and used my inhaler.

After a while my breathing was back to normal.

This is when I came to the realisation that vapour cigarettes are very dangerous for your lungs and respiratory system and cause shortness of breath.

In fact, it is worse than smoking cigarettes or marijuana.

Last week eight students in Wisconsin were hospitalised for shortness of breath, lung and respiratory damage from smoking vapour cigarettes. Vapour cigarettes should be banned because of the danger they pose.

It’s no surprise that our Police force is battling against non-communicable diseases (NCDs), particularly now that it is a known fact that most Fijians are suffering from an NCD epidemic.

Instead of fighting against crime and protecting the general public our Police force is battling against food!

We expect the force to be our first and last line of defence, to be healthy, fit and alert.

Police officers are expected to be physically fit, be disciplined and have self-control. Where is the commitment, respect and professionalism for the badge? Obviously cloaked in sickness, which has bred unacceptable and improper behaviour. It’s no wonder we’re breeding crime!