Campaign goes up in smoke

The annual ?No Tobacco Day? has become little more than a ritual. To say that the rite is meaningless may be pitching it too strong, but the fact is that the impact of the observances are, sadly, negligible.

The annual ‘No Tobacco Day’ has become little more than a ritual. To say that the rite is meaningless may be pitching it too strong, but the fact is that the impact of the observances are, sadly, negligible. The deadly consequences of tobacco use on health can’t be over-emphasised. Yet, on No Tobacco Day, smokers are oblivious to the right earnest of anti-tobacco groups. While the latter ‘celebrate’ the day with all seriousness, a growing number of young people light up. A survey of university-going women has revealed that smoking is still considered ‘cool’. Smokers, more often than not, aren’t even aware of such a day, and those who are, are dismissive of it. In India, efforts to ban smoking in public have been simply ignored, both by the smokers and the authorities given the task of implementing the prohibition.

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Tobacco abuse, especially among the young, is worryingly on the increase, according to WHO estimates. In India, perhaps more than any other country, the other danger lurks in the form of chewing tobacco, which has not attracted any bans. But chewing tobacco has been proved to be the prime cause for oral cancer — a fact most often cited in State ads. In India, more than 80 per cent of tobacco users opt for the chewing form. It is this limited mode of viewing tobacco use that ensures that it is anything but curbed. Of the latest ‘No Smoking’ initiatives is the move to engage school principals to fine young people smoking. Surely, there is a difference between keeping schools smoke-free zones and making the young smoker aware of the choice he/she is making?

Tobacco is a powerful addiction and requires a complex strategy that must include a mix of incentives, disincentives, education and enforcement. That 21st century India continues to find ‘smoking’ cool in spite of the considerable efforts and funds invested to weed out the habit, is something that anti-tobacco campaigners, social workers and psychologists need to figure out.