Author: Dallandyshe Xhaferri
Amid Tirana's smog and scorching temperatures, smoking is a disturbing phenomenon. Tobacco addiction is finding a suitable ground. From young people who smoke for fun, to those who struggle to quit, smoking is not only bad for your health, but also for your wallet.
For days, Tirana has been facing high temperatures, which are accompanied by smog caused by car pollution and the construction of skyscrapers, closer and closer to existing buildings. However, for Klevis, the noise and the heat are no problem for him to go outside his office to smoke a cigarette.
He is very similar to young Albanians, who try to find some time for themselves during working hours, while constantly smoking a cigarette.
10 years ago, Klevis did not believe that he would return to being a regular smoker, and his two attempts to finally quit smoking cigarettes would fail.
"I started smoking when I started my higher studies in Tirana, but even during high school there were times when I would light up a cigarette when I was with friends," says the 30-year-old, while emphasizing that he started smoking for "banal reasons" as friends encouraged him to smoke a cigarette during the time they spent together.
"During these years, I have quit smoking twice. The first time I did not smoke for 6 months before defending my bachelor's thesis and I started one day before defending my diploma. Then I quit for a year while I was continuing my Master's studies and I started again during the week of the diploma defense due to stress," says Klevisi, while revealing that he has never consulted a doctor to finally quit smoking, as the only solution lies in the smoker's determination.
Toxicologist Alert Drishti tells "Sinjalizo" that almost no patient who has developed an addiction to smoking turns to the health system to quit smoking. " People who are poisoned by smoking are very rare," says the doctor, while the health consequences are numerous, turning smoking into a factor that increases the risk of various cancerous diseases.
"It's not just the Central Nervous System that is damaged. The first system that comes into contact with the harms of smoking is the respiratory system (breathing system), the cardiovascular system...so, multi-organ damage begins," says Drishti, emphasizing that the damage to smokers' health is not only caused by nicotine, but also by tar and carbon dioxide, which are the main components of tobacco.
Albania produces and imports tons of tobacco
According to a report published by the World Bank in 2024, Albania ranks 47th among 163 different countries in the world, in terms of tobacco consumption.
Also, according to the official data that the General Directorate of Customs has made available to "Sinjalizo", it turns out that during the last three years, the amount in tons of cigarettes imported into our country has increased.
During the year 2021, 2934 tons of cigarettes were legally imported into Albania, the amount of which would be increased by another 213 tons in 2022. During the last year, 2023, 3186 tons of cigarettes were imported into the country.
Gentian Selami, the director of the National Cigarette Tobacco Agency, announced through an official response to "Sinjalizo" that during the last two years the area of hectares planted with tobacco has increased.
During the year 2022, 672.8 hectares of tobacco were planted in our country, while the amount of tobacco produced was 1476 tons. In 2023, although the area of hectares has increased to 867.7 ha, the amount of domestic tobacco produced has decreased to 1349 tons.
From the data published in the Foreign Trade Bulletin January-December 2023, the value of tobacco and its manufactured substitutes imported into the country amounts to 10,067 million lek for the year 2023, increasing compared to 2021 when tobacco imports cost 8,169 million lek and 2022 when imported tobacco amounted to 9,623 million lek.
The challenges of quitting smoking
According to toxicologist Alert Drishti, studies in the field of medicine have shown that a smoker must spend 2 years without smoking to be considered "completely quit smoking", however the challenges of a smoker to give up this habit there are many in Albania.
Diana Toma, former president of the Order of Pharmacists in Albania, tells "Sinjalizo" that the Albanian consumer spends more income on smoking than on treatment to quit smoking.
"Even when they want to quit, they are not guided. We have guidance for quitting drugs, which includes alcohol, but we do not treat smoking as an addiction to a drug," says Toma, adding that there is a lack of guidance structures for quitting smoking, even though smoking is the main cause of laryngeal cancer.
According to the former president of the Order of Pharmacists, the moment a citizen seeks to break away from tobacco addiction, he turns into a pathological case.
"Toxicology is not about having a treatment for these people who are addicted to tobacco and want to get rid of this addiction," says Toma, adding that smoking turns the consumer into a cancer patient, for whom the Albanian state would have to pay more than it would have to help "get out of the smoking trap."
" To youth policies against drug use, smoking should also be added. There are people who feel trapped by this drug and they want to escape. Do they have the opportunity? No. Even the psychological opportunity, no. Because they become nervous. Even the financial opportunity to cope," says Toma, while Klevisi tells "Sinjalizo" that the lack of nicotine patches in pharmacies is a challenge faced by people who want to quit smoking.
Nicotine patches are some stickers that are placed on the body and enable smokers to get the necessary daily amount of nicotine, however, their absence in pharmacies in the country is also a result of the lack of demand from smokers who want to quit smoking. tobacco.
"This way you don't feel like you have to smoke cigarettes. The problem is that they are not easily found in Albania," Klevisi says, adding that each pack of this product contains 7 stickers. The amount of nicotine in the pack stickers is gradually reduced, helping smokers not to return to smoking cigarettes.
Economic costs of smokers
Inva is a 33-year-old from Tirana, who was able to give up smoking only during her pregnancy a year ago. She became a regular smoker in her 20s, around the time she started college.
"The moment I found out I was expecting a baby, I automatically stopped. I didn't have much of a problem with it, unlike other girls because one of the pregnancy symptoms I had was the problem with odors. I had a little difficulty with my daily routine, when I sat down I wanted to drink a coffee but I couldn't accompany it with a cigarette," says Inva, who returned to smoking 10 months after becoming a mother.
She tells "Sinjalizo" that the brand of cigarettes she consumes costs 300 Lek and almost every day she buys a new pack of cigarettes.
"I spend approximately 9 thousand new lek on tobacco per month ," says Inva, while for Albani, a cigarette seller for years in the area known as "Student City", smokers always find an alternative to buy tobacco.
"Package prices have increased every year, yet every day there are over 40 regular buyers who come to buy. They have now turned to rolled tobacco, because it lasts longer than a pack of 20 cigarettes," Albani concludes.
Tobacco remains a major challenge for public health in Albania. While import and production figures continue to rise, help for smokers remains scarce. It is time for strategies and policies to focus more on the prevention and treatment of this addiction, so that we do not remain locked in a cycle of health and economic damage.
This article was created based on input provided by individuals who have chosen to speak up. Share your story, empower others and be an agent for change. Visit the website: www.acqj.al/sinjalizo-dhe-ti/
