Need a Law To Control the Excessive Use of Tobacco

Ramesh (name changed), a resident of Sanjay Nagar Kachchi Basti in Jaipur, had to be rushed to the hospital a few days back as he found it difficult to open his mouth and got some painful blisters inside his mouth. The diagnosis revealed that he developed first stage oral cancer. Shanta, his wife who had nine years ago migrated as a daily wage labourer from their village in Bundi to Jaipur to earn her daily bread for their six-member family, is now in shock and finds herself in the middle of nowhere. What will happen to the family now, is her biggest concern?

“When brought to the hospital, he used to consume 15-20 tobacco pouches daily, equal to the cost of our one-time meal expense. Why cannot the government ban its sale in order to curb its consumption? Easy access is the reason why tobacco addiction is on the rising,” Shanta said.

The story of Ramesh is a typical example of how tobacco addiction is badly affecting peoples’ lives. Lakhs of people get into tobacco use. Under the influence of addiction, most of them end up in the clutches of lethal diseases like cancer. “Widespread use of chewable and other tobacco products is mostly due to their easy availability and low cost. Addiction and oral cancer rates in children are increasing due to the use of these smokeless tobacco products.

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With the law to control the sale of tobacco product we can save health and money of lakhs of families,” Dr RK Garg, Chief Health Officer, Jaipur Municipal Corporation said. The second edition of the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS-2 ) shows that 68% of cigarette smokers and 50% of smokeless tobacco users purchase loose cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products respectively. Control on easy availability and sale of tobacco products is a must because people consume it despite having knowledge of its harmful effects. Moreover, according to GATS- 2 92% of adults believe that smoking causes serious illness and 96% of adults believe that the use of smokeless tobacco causes serious illness.

Tobacco users say that they initiated tobacco use just because it was easily available in lucrative packing that attracts for a try and develops into a habit.