SPEECH SCRIPT

Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m honored to be standing here infront of you, and thank you for giving
me this opportunity to speak to this gathering today. And I’m here to inform all the farmers and
producers the danger brought of tobacco leaves and what illness it might bring this to you and to
your family.

Tobacco usage is generally recognized as a serious danger to global health. It kills about 7
million people per year, making it the world's leading cause of preventable death. According to
the World Health Organization, “each day, a tobacco worker who plants, cultivates and harvests
tobacco may absorb as much nicotine as found in 50 cigarettes”. Nicotine poisoning, also known
as green tobacco sickness, occurs as a result exposure to wet tobacco leaves during tobacco
cultivation. Children are more vulnerable to green tobacco sickness given their proportionally
lower body mass to nicotine absorption. Avoiding nicotine poisoning when working with
tobacco plants is difficult, even when wearing protective equipment. Tobacco farming typically
uses a lot of chemicals, such as insecticides, fertilizers, and growth regulators. As a result, Lung
cancer, cardiovascular illness, and pulmonary disease are among the health effects of
environmental tobacco smoke exposure. Exposure to residual chemicals in locations where
smoking has occurred may also have human health consequences. Tobacco is a plant. Its leaves
are smoked, chewed, or sniffed for a variety of effects. Tobacco contains the chemical nicotine,
which is an addictive substance. Tobacco smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals, at least 70
of which are known to cause cancer. Tobacco that is not burned is called smokeless tobacco.
Including nicotine, there are at least 30 chemicals in smokeless tobacco that are known to cause
cancer. Cancer (more likely in the lung, mouth, larynx, nose and sinuses, throat, esophagus,
stomach, bladder, kidney, pancreas, cervix, colon, and rectum), Poor wound healing after
surgery, Lung problems, such as COPD, or asthma that is harder to control, Problems during
pregnancy, such as babies born at a low birth weight, early labor, losing your baby, and cleft lip,
Decreased ability to taste and smell, Harm to sperm, which may lead to infertility, Loss of sight
due to an increased risk of macular degeneration, Tooth and gum diseases, and Wrinkling of the
skin.
 With that, I would like to recommend ways and actions for you to consider and to prevent
exposure from tobacco leaves. To begin, identify, prevent, treat, and monitor tobacco-related
health impacts among farmers and workers. Second, devise measures to protect tobacco
producers, particularly their children, from unfair and dangerous agricultural and labor practices.
Third, tighten tobacco farming regulations to prevent deforestation and land degradation .
Fourth, implement extended producer responsibility regulations on the tobacco industry to
reduce, mitigate and prevent manufacturing and post-consumption tobacco product waste. Fifth,
extend tobacco product sales regulation to eliminate single-use filters – including any
biodegradable varieties – to reduce post-consumption waste. Sixth, engage litigation and
economic interventions to recover the costs of industry misconduct and environmental damages.
Seventh, innovate, improve and enforce new and existing environmental regulations and
agreements that may apply to tobacco manufacturing, transport and management of post
consumption waste.

While all transnational tobacco companies have goals to reduce the environmental impacts of
tobacco manufacturing and/or transport, the fact remains that the tobacco industry is a highly
unsustainable enterprise. The adage “there is no such thing as a safe cigarette” could be extended
to assert that there is no such thing as an environmentally neutral tobacco industry. However,
that should not be used as an excuse by the tobacco industry not to bother trying at all. At the
very least, transnational tobacco companies should be required to compensate the environmental
harms they cause in order to lessen the long-term, global ecological harms and climate change
generated by the tobacco business. Going forward, the government, farmers' organizations, and
civil society must work together to effectively motivate farmers to cultivate crops other than
tobacco, especially those that have effective economic and health benefits.