CAGES AND CHAINS: How African Culture Promotes Tobacco Consumption

Cultural practices have been a major accompaniment to the decriminalisation of drug and other psychoactive substance abuse in Africa. Despite the WHO reporting that tobacco kills up to half of its users who don't quit, killing more than 7 million people each year, including an estimated 1.6 million non-smokers exposed to second-hand smoke, Africa has cultivated the practice of tobacco consumption. This research investigated the cultural practices that have promoted tobacco consumption in Africa. The study was conducted using content, secondary text, and qualitative analysis of primary data to examine traditional practices within African cultures that have promoted tobacco consumption and how such practices have been cultivated and preserved over generations. The study revealed that cultural practices and factors promoting tobacco consumption in Africa vary across countries and states within countries. Cultural functions such as rituals, social functions, occupational lifestyles, and gender-specific traditions have caged Africans in tobacco consumption, and their practices have become the chains that hold Africans in tobacco consumption. The study makes policy recommendations for educational activities that will enlighten the people on the dangers of tobacco, by type of tobacco consumed, cessation practices, and the reform of tobacco products for less harmful effects.