Anxiety, withdrawal, the illegal market - smokers tell their stories, and psychiatrist warns against ban

  • 📰 TimesLIVE
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 9 sec. here
  • 2 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 7%
  • Publisher: 59%

South Africa News News

The government's u-turn on cigarette sales could result in disastrous consequences of acute, forced, involuntary nicotine withdrawal, warns psychiatrist Dr Mike West.

A 62-year-old, who also buys cigarettes illegally, said: “Smoking is the only thing keeping me sane.

“Since the announcement of lifting the cigarettes ban, I honestly felt relief because I didn’t have to find out whether or not I was really addicted to smoking.

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.

SA fiscus is feeling the pinch, because of the ban on sin taxes✊

A tough road lies ahead for the SA economy, with job losses potentially reaching up to seven million as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, according to projections by National Treasury. This would take the country's already record unemployment rate as high as 50%, and now our

Not really. The public buy and the Zumas score. That was the core behind it all. Find yourselves some dealers in dagga. Dagga is legal

Never mind withdrawal. Look how much is being lost on Taxes for our country. How are they going to recover these losses?

How much did they pay him to say that

Write all bad things about the government

fita_sa I would suggest that the millions of smokers in South Africa pledge not to vote ANC again. They are clueless.

Go get some Zol

Go to hell

sque43 This campaign is huge, and looks like well funded.

Agree ban needs to be uplifted period

The can all go to hell we are not smoking here.

I saw someone frantically truing ti by nicorette yesterday. Was literally beside herself when told it was sold out

She has no problem posing with the kingpin. Easy to forget the 2 blacks fighting over sigarette money. One killed the other🤔

Tell that doctor ukuthi OKSALAYO!

If they havent had withdrawal symtoms by now, they aint gonna get them.

fita_sa This is just to support black markets so some can benefit.

I'm pretty sure the taxi industry causes more death and injury each year and yet...

Just trying to cushion the fact that we have millions of drug addicts🤣. They will survive. No one was born a smoker.

Bugger all the negative issues, smokers know all that crap! It’s funding the pro-zuma camp of the ANC. Elections loom....

So 2000 people said they didnt want the ban lifted as per the poll. Interesting to know if the other 68 000 wanted it to be lifted. Ahhhhh the ANC's true enemy, simple math

Yes I can quit and stop paying taxes to this corrupt government 🕺

this could be worse than the actual virus. We better lockdown the government just to be safe

Well done CyrilRamaphosa! You guys havent put a foot wrong. We are led ✊✊✊

Yes ... cos that takes priority over DEATH

They say that banning cigarettes is gonna save lives through this tough times, but how sure a they that smoking is a risk to our health for the covid 19.

One already suffer from depression and anxiety.. Now will also get the rittletit of 🚭 withdrawal.

fita_sa And yet they are happy to give methadone to the other addicts. IF I CANT SMOKE THEN I WANT METHADONE

fita_sa I'm agreeing

Why were they not in withdrawal the last 5 weeks?

Fuck him

Leandre40064512 It doesn't affect the government, they actually want us to die but they are using the lockdown to pretend they care about our lives while they are benefitting through funds, the government is and will always be corrupt, pity most people are fooled by increased grants,

When politics get personal, not us anymore it's me. They forget why they are there in the first place.

Literally me two weeks ago😖

Dr Mike West - sounds like a made up name 😂🤣 Anyways - whose paying him to say what ?

I don’t smoke, but I can see how it’s affecting some of my friends. We are the only country in the world to ban cigarettes and alcohol. Ridiculous & in democratic.

We are still buying cigarettes, and smoking them. You are just losing out on taxes GovernmentZA

One was not born a smoker therefore they will survive. People go to bed at night with empty stomachs yet they don't moan as much.

We dnt care pls tell Dr Mike West, what is of utmost importance is to save the very same people from contracting Covid_19

Speaking to a professional health services practitioner this afternoon, indeed tobacco is a real health risk against the CoronaVirus

Waze wabaluleka bo ugwayi

Smoking is harmful to ur health. That is besides covid-19. Media is politicking again.

just today they said they take all proposals into consideration, lets see if they lying again! tomorrow they might ban ur spoil or takeaways because it might spread the virus and then🤷‍♀️not 1 person lives a perfectly healthy life stop judging smokers ur not that perfect! Wake up!

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 noGqirha bakulento🤷 🤣🤣

CyrilRamaphosa DOES NOT CARE, he has OBVIOUSLY decided to be lead by nose, and stand on side of anc corruption, rather than the people's side! Cigarette ban has NOTHING to do with COVID19, it's just an AWESOME opportunity for some in anc to SELF ENRICH

All of the sudden All along it wasn't causing anything

Tobacco industry is not the one affected by these lockdown regulations as a result of the pandemic. If Sin Tax is that important Mybe we should suggest a 6months DOUBLE TAXATION on SIN TAX soon after lockdown

Same thing with alcohol man. That involuntary mambo something applies.

Chemists are open to assist them with craving. Tobacco sellers are worried that after 2 months people won't interested into their products.

More like profit withdrawals 😂😂😂

Mike west can crawl back to hell!

Do people actually know that (in our corruptible country) the black market cigarette sales are thriving. The government banning cigarettes doesn't mean they not in circulation. And these ones are worse than the ones that could have been regulated.

Remember how the MYANC tormented you, abused you, lied to you and then tortured you when you vote next year at the polls. 🚬

Rupert is paying even doctors.

Dr. MIKE WEST doesn't know what he's talking about... This is a National Rehabilitation Program

Quantify please

expose the syndicates behind the ban!!

That’s better than COPD which kills thousands every year.

Yes but should legal cigarette sales be allowed again, the woman in the doek and her gangster friends would lose out on smuggling. Who funded NDZ's Nasrec campaign? Adriano Mazzotti, a known tobacco smuggler.

We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 28. in ZA

South Africa South Africa Latest News, South Africa South Africa Headlines