Introduction
The federal government of Canada has been very aggressive in dealing with the challenge of tobacco smoking in the country. Tobacco use and nicotine addiction have been a major challenge in healthcare management and public administration in Canada.
A section of Canadian citizens are opposed to smoking and feel that the government needs to take stern action on tobacco industry for its role in high nicotine smoking and addiction rates. According to Health Canada, tobacco and nicotine addiction are some of the preventable factors that predispose people to diseases, yet the public administration is doing very little to improve the situation.
Anti-smoking groups in Canada have suggested that the federal government needs to roll out a campaign to demoralize the tobacco industry, as there is an urgent need to reduce the rate at which people are smoking tobacco. However, the biggest challenge lies on the government’s readiness to roll out such a campaign, whether it will be successful, and the necessary legislation for effective implementation.
To achieve success in such a campaign, it is important for the federal government to ensure that both its communication systems and social marketing strategies are effective enough. I believe that the Canada’s federal government is ready to roll out a demoralization campaign, for its tobacco industry.
Discussion
According to Health Canada, reducing the use of tobacco in Canada will lead to healthier people, who will enjoy better quality of life. Tobacco and nicotine addiction is a challenge in Canada, but Health Canada officials believe that the situation is reversible, as quitting the habit does not have a timeline.
The demoralization campaign on the tobacco industry is a good idea, and its success elsewhere provides enough motivation to the government. Demoralization of the tobacco industry has successfully worked in the states of Florida and California in America.
This is not the first attempt that the federal government of Canada intends to make in reducing the prevalence of smoking in the country. Over the last four decades, the government has implemented numerous legislations that have greatly reduced smoking rates. The timing of the demoralization campaign is right, as there is need to improve the health status of people, and empower them economically.
According to government statistics on smoking in Canada, a big percentage of the population belongs to low social and economic classes, and has the highest smoking rates. There is an opposite relationship between education and income, in that people with low education levels are likely to have little income. This has direct impact on the social behaviors they pick, and their ability to manage the effects of those habits.
Therefore, most health complications related to tobacco smoking apply among low-income earners. Economic empowerment would greatly help in reducing the rise in rates of tobacco smoking. A demoralization campaign by the government would help in public education and awareness creation about tobacco, and the effects of nicotine addiction.
Public education and awareness creation will definitely make a difference in smoking rates, as people will become more conscious of both their health and economic prospects. A demoralization campaign will also motivate people to seek more responsibilities in an effort to attain the common good.
Everyone has an ethical duty to ensure the attainment of the common good, by looking out for the welfare of others. Tobacco smoking has effects on both active smokers and the passive smokers. Tobacco smoke contains dangerous chemicals that easily initiate cancer in active and passive smokers.
Effective public administration entails coordination between various government agencies and the private sector. Running a high profile campaign to demoralize tobacco in Canada can result to both legal and public complications. The Canadian federal government says that high rates of smoking in Canada are negatively affecting the national economy and welfare of citizens.
Running a demoralization campaign will lead to complications because of conflicting interests. There is the need to uphold the rule of law, and the economic aspect of having the tobacco industry.
From one perspective, the tobacco industry is boosting the national economy of Canada through tax revenue and job creation for its people, while on the other hand the tobacco industry is affecting the economic potency of most citizens who are slowly getting addicted to the habit of smoking tobacco.
Smoking in public is not a very sociable thing for someone to do, thus the need to improve people relations when in public places or gatherings. The positive aspect of a demoralization campaign on the tobacco industry is that it will make people feel guilty and socially unlikable when they smoke, especially in public.
A demoralization campaign on the tobacco industry in Canada needs to focus on youths aged between 18 years and 35 years. According to statistics by Health Canada, this age group is the most affected in terms of nicotine addiction and health complications. The reason why the campaign needs to focus on this group is that they are at their active stage in life, when they need to use their energy and time to achieve economic empowerment.
Most nicotine addicts in Canada belong to the low economic class, as they tend to miss crucial opportunities in life because of their habit. Although this could be the main target group for the demoralization campaign, it is important for the government also to consider the group that starts smoking at early teenage, albeit the number being very small.
Managing the challenge starting with this group can be an effective long-term strategy, as their peers will have no one to influence them into smoking tobacco. The demoralization campaign would also be very effective if it focused on the role of parents, caregivers, and learning institutions in the fight against increasing rates of tobacco smoking.
The demoralization campaign ought to pass educative messages that create awareness about tobacco and nicotine addiction, as well as messages that discourage people from envying the disastrous habit. People need to learn about various components of nicotine, how they affect the human body and effective ways of detoxification.
Canadian population needs to develop the right attitude about tobacco and nicotine addiction, by understanding the nature of operations in the industry and its products. Campaign messages also need to focus on ways that passive smokers can positively influence their friends into quitting the habit.
Secondary smokers have a crucial role to play in the success of the demoralization campaign. The best time to air, the campaign is during prime time when there are more viewers, as well as during school holidays when most young people spend a lot of free time on various media.
It is important for the federal government to engage other partners in this campaign, as the challenge of nicotine smoking goes beyond public administration.
The government needs to engage the services and resource capacity of non-governmental organizations, community-based organizations, and faith-based organizations. Other essential partners in this campaign are civil society organizations, and peer counselors. These partners would complement the efforts of the government in the campaign, which is mainly policy formulation and implementation.
Conclusion
The demoralization campaign on the tobacco industry is a very good idea by the Canadian federal government. Owing to the fast-rising rates of smoking and nicotine addiction in the country, it is necessary to educate people about the health and legal consequences of engaging in the habit. In addition, it is important to create an impression on people that smoking is not a socially acceptable behavior, especially when done in public.
Demoralization campaigns help in reducing smoking rates by generating guilt among smokers for what they do, especially in public places. Demoralization campaigns ought to be manipulative in nature, and hard-hitting to influence people into reflecting about their habit and making considerations about quitting.
The federal government needs to develop legislations that will regulate the use of nicotine in the country in terms of the age limit for possession of tobacco, and the right places for smoking.
People need to develop an attitude for promoting ethics and the will to attain the common good through their social life. It is the responsibility of everyone in Canada to stop the problem of tobacco and nicotine addiction, by supporting the government in the demoralization campaign.