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{
    "id": 234161,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/234161/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 241,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Capt. Nakitare",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 348,
        "legal_name": "Davis Wafula Nakitare",
        "slug": "davis-nakitare"
    },
    "content": "or cannabis sativa . We should be concerned about the product of tobacco. The Government should follow international laws. In aviation, it is forbidden for people to smoke while airborne, not even in toilets. There are no hide-outs for smokers in an aircraft. All smoking zones in aircrafts have been shut down. It is very interesting for a Kenyan to smoke over 200 sticks of cigarettes per year. There is no food value in that. Cigarette smoking addiction paralyses the body. It causes ailments and deformities in un-born children. We should stop the production of tobacco in order to save our people's lives. Tobacco is poisonous to the body. It blocks the transportation of oxygen and calcium in the body and interferes with the circulation of blood. This is despicable! Therefore, however sweet cigarettes are, we must substitute the production of tobacco and regulate the behaviour of smokers. We should promote the production of crops which have some food value. We should emphasise on the production of crops which do not harm our people. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Government will say that tobacco companies are paying Kshs5 billion as taxes. However, there is no comparison between Kshs5 billion and the many deaths that are being caused by cigarette smoking related cancer. It is very expensive to take care of a cancer patient. Cancer patients are treated by chemotherapy which involves passing electric waves in the affected areas to kill the cancerous cells. Others are operated on day in, day out until they die. This is a serious issue. I congratulate the Ministry of Health for coming up with this Bill. It is not intended to deny the country revenue, but this is a concern for human beings. We should be fair when we are talking about crops which are of no benefit to our bodies. The level of food value in any crop is a big concern to us. In general, there are very few smokers compared to the number of people who wear clothes which are made from cotton. Therefore, we should replace the tobacco crop with the cotton crop, which is of benefit to all of us. With those few remarks, I support the Bill."
}