The implementation of the law on prevention and control of hazards of tobaccco products,law no.4207,in Turkey :Prohibitions and societal perception of smoking

Nowadays, the cigarette is one of the most harmful and addictive substances for human health. Every year millions of people lose their lives due to the health problems caused by tobacco products. If the smoking problem continues in the same way as it is today, the picture is expected to get worse according to the projections for the future. This shows that the cigarette will continue to exist as the 'uncanny enemy' of human and public health in future. Besides all of this, the last half century has witnessed the fact that the cigarette has gradually caused destructive damages to human health. In this context, effective measurements have been taken and important implementations have been made in our country and in the world to prevent the harms of tobacco in general and the cigarette in particular. Policies directed toward reducing the harms of tobacco have resulted in the level of consciousness about the harms of the cigarette and health has resulted in the voicing of the idea, which was not expressed as much in the past. Cigarettes are a public health problem with a high tone; and we are witnessing a gradually increasing conscious resistance against the smoking behaviour and smokers. Beyond all these achievements in terms of public health, prohibition practices, which form a significant part of fighting strategies against tobacco and tobacco products, are of great importance. Our study on how the perception of the cigarette has changed as a result of the prohibition practices, which have been expressed in The Law No: 4207 on Prevention and Control of Harmful Effects of Tobacco Products in Turkey is composed of four sections and many subheadings. In the first (I.) section under the Common History of Tobacco and Cigarette heading, the discovery and spread of tobacco first to Europe, then to the whole world, tobacco's becoming an integral substance of human and public life rather than being a consumption and purely smoking product. Finding places that tobacco and tobacco products are smoked and the existence of a lifestyle where workers maintain by working on tobacco fields or in factories, is becoming a useful tool in cultural industry with the help of many factors such as gender differences, the effects of cigarette on human health and the reasons of smoking are addressed. In the second (II.) section, control policies implemented to fight the harms of tobacco products and cigarette in particular, the prohibition practices that are essential to these policies, and the results of said policies are evaluated on both international and states basis as required. The studies on the fighting cigarette in our country and the effects of these studies are examined from the times of Ottoman Empire to today. In the third (III.) section under the Cigarette as the Manufactured Risk and the Freedom of Smoking heading, firstly the concept and theories of risk and risk society are addressed, and in this context the possibility of accepting cigarette as a manufactured risk is emphasized. Again in this section, the existence of freedom of smoking, the need to limit it, the conflict between the freedom of smokers and the rights and freedom of non-smokers about health and environment have been discussed; and it is shown that the rights and freedom of non-smokers about having clean air and living in a healthy and balanced environment are preferable. In the last (IV.) section of our study, the results of a study conducted on 1363 people in Rize on the changes of smoking rates as a result of prohibitions of the Law No: 4207 on the Prevention and Control of Harmful Effects of Tobacco Products and the how the legal regulations effect the social perception of cigarette has been assessed according to findings. Key Words: Cigarette, Law No.4207, Smoking Behavior, Bans