For smokers, Ramadan is not only the month of fasting, abstinence and sobriety, but also an opportunity to temporarily break with cigarettes. A propitious occasion, given the harmful effect of tobacco.
Many smokers, aware of the danger of nicotine, are happy to take a break – all in all – beneficial to the body as long as it allows them to temporarily get rid of this drug that is harmful to body and mind.
Others, completely “addicted” to this evil which is “necessary” to them, go through a severe test of patience by observing the fast. A delicate situation that systematically affects the nerves: the individual smoker, who deprives himself overnight of nicotine and cigarette smoke, inevitably suffers from a psychological imbalance. He no longer enjoys perfect control of his mental abilities and becomes nervous and overexcited. Better not bother him.
Dreadful ordeal for some
The attitude of Khemaïess L. (40 years old), car mechanic, is proof of what we have just said. For him, the great difficulty felt during the fast is abstinence from smoking.
“It often happens to me to smoke 4 or 5 cigarettes in a row while I remain submerged to overhaul an engine, I can’t help it, I have been smoking since I was young. Cigarettes are an essential element of concentration at work. Without them, I feel lost and helpless! In the month of Ramadan I often manage to go on leave”.
Valid test… for the others
On the other hand, Abdessatar N., another heavy smoker, does not seem to suffer as much from this abstinence: “I hardly felt disconcerted at the beginning of this holy month. Right after, I get used to this new rhythm. Admit that I don’t really feel the urge to smoke as long as my stomach is empty and as long as I deprive myself of coffee. Usually, I smoke too much in the morning and between meals…. but never on an empty stomach or late at night”.
Hassen, 53, a cigar lover, seems proud to have successfully overcome the ordeal. “I absolutely want to get rid of this ‘dryness’ that has been obsessing me for years. At least, during the month of Lent, I find the courage to annihilate the evil that overwhelms me. Tobacco is bad for your health, I am in a good position to confirm that”.
And to continue: “If Ramadan gives us the opportunity and the will to recover, it also offers us the possibility of enjoying a healthy life without tobacco”. This confirms Hamdane, another cigarette lover.
A month of deprivation… a record
It appears from these testimonies that fasting smokers do not experience the same abstinence difficulties.
According to Dr. Omrani, a psychologist, the extent of these difficulties depends on the degree of addiction of the human body to tobacco.
“Smokers who suffer the most from the lack of tobacco during the fasting period are those who smoke at all hours to satisfy a permanent autosuggestion, which, in turn, is not linked to any process of stimulation”.
This relentless smoker, this real drug addict who leaves a puff of smoke wherever he goes, cannot claim one day to divorce cigarettes. However, he is delighted to succeed in a daily deprivation of fifteen or sixteen hours in a row for a whole month, a record!
He is also delighted to reduce nicotine consumption to half if not two-thirds… At least that’s what a tobacconist has just confirmed, which recorded a significant drop in sales during this holy month. packets of cigarettes.
So much the better for smokers who will have to take advantage of the fast to follow a forced detoxification cure and forget about this killer cigarette.
To close this file, let’s end our report with Mzah’s opinion. I., 55, senior executive in a state-owned company: “The best opportunity that presents itself to any ‘drug addict’ wishing to break with cigarettes is the month of Ramadan. I speak to you knowingly, because it happened to me to momentarily stop smoking to reoffend right after”.
The experiment attempted in the month of fasting gave good results. You just have to hold on, so as not to smoke the four or five evening cigarettes and prepare yourself psychologically for a life without tobacco. “It is much easier to break with cigarettes during this holy month because, during this period, the individual really puts himself to the test of total abstinence. So you might as well take the opportunity to combine business with pleasure and get rid of this harmful drug once and for all.
Tarek ZARROUK