‘The cigarette ban will not stop people from smoking’ – Dr Glenda Gray

Health Department Ministerial Advisory Council member Dr Glenda Gray said the cigarette ban, during lockdown, will not prevent citizens from purchasing illegal cigarettes to satisfy their craving. 

In an interview with Eusebius McKaiser on 702, Gray said there comes a time when the lockdown becomes negligible, indicating that South Africa could very well be entering that phase of the pandemic. 

CIGARETTE BAN ISN’T PREVENTING MUCH 

According to Gray, a South African physician and scientist specialising in the care of children and in HIV medicine, smokers are essentially addicted to nicotine and so when they can’t get their fix via traditional methods, they will do whatever it takes to get it. 

“Prohibiting cigarettes will not stop people from smoking; it means people will go out and find it somewhere else,” said Gray. 

Gray explained that the addiction is too hard to manage, and people [smokers] will buy it illegally, at higher prices.

According to a report, titled Lighting Up The Illicit Market, the cigarette ban has wreaked havoc: 

• It’s estimated that 50% of all smokers have switched brands, now ‘going local’ so they can get access to illegal cigarettes;
• Cigarette prices are going up by 4.4% a day;
• Smokers are paying an average of 90% more for cigarettes;
• Around 67% of smokers are heading to spaza shops to pick up their illicit goods;
• About 4% of people admitted to buying cigarettes through ‘drug dealers’, ‘cigarette smugglers’, or ‘black market traders’; and
• More than one in four (26%) cigarette consumers have turned to street vendors for their fix.

GRAY SUGGESTS CHILDREN BE LET OUT 

Gray argued that only the most vulnerable should be required to remain in isolation. She said children should be allowed out as she doesn’t think they would be under threat. 

“Let the children out, they won’t be adversely affected, protect the vulnerable and keep them safe and let us go out and do what we do. But we have reached a point of no longer having additional benefits of keeping the lockdown,” said Gray. 

“E-commerce doesn’t cause COVID-19 and making people exercise from 6:00 to 9:00 causes congestion. There were compelling reasons for the lockdown. But there comes a time when the value of the lockdown becomes negligible and we are at that stage of the pandemic,” she added.