Tobacco is a necessity more than it is a luxury, the quality of life is so bad this is a small piece of solace available to people across strata of society.

Carl D'souza, Mumbai

Just like an adult movie, the sale to tobacco or its products should be banned to children below 18 years of age.

Dr. Nishant Tewari, Patna

On one hand, we take pride in calling ourselves a young nation—over 40% of our population comprises the youth. On the other, we turn a blind eye to the systematic poisoning of these same youth that hold the key to our future. It is a fact of immense shame that India is both the largest manufacturer and consumer of flavored chewing tobacco (Guthka). Available ubiquitously at a stone's throw from schools and colleges for as low as a few cents, Guthka is a “silent killer.” For years, the Indian government has unsuccessfully tried to ban the sale and consumption of this highly addictive mix, but the only beneficiaries of this movement have been manufacturers, who have used this as an opportunity to hike prices and bootleg. As Guthka manufacturers drive shamelessly around in their Maybachs and Bentleys, innocent addicts are languishing in pain in our government hospitals. It is a known fact that this billion dollar industry is being supported by both the drug mafia as well as terrorists from across borders. It is my appeal through this forum to the responsible citizens of India: It is our moral duty to join hands in fighting against this deadly virus and ensure that our youth are not destroyed. Please join hands and support this cause. We can and will make a difference. I humbly request our politicians and leaders to support us in eradicating this killer virus once and for all. Jai Hind.

Hinesh Jethwani, Mumbai

Don't let your life go up in smoke!!!!

Mohua Gupta, Mumbai

I think we need to have some rules in place, like one can only buy a complete pack of ciggies. Loose ciggs should not be sold as this will definetly decrease the amount of first time smokers. A person who wants to start generally will buy one cigarette at a time. Bad quality ciggs shudnt be sold, No PANAMA, GenNext.. or whatever...only Classic Milds, GOLDFLAKE and above... as these atleast have decent size filters. That's what i think.

Jonathan Sreekumaran, Mumbai

I really don't have an opinion although it seems stupid to take steps to avoid smokin n public when nothing is done to stop production.

Jonquil Sudhir de Souza, Goa

Tthe age limit should be taken seriously at the pan bidi shops. I've seen a lot of kids below the permissible age buying cigs/gutka...and the shopkeepers’ don’t give a f&*k!

Ian Pereira, Mumbai

First, it's not so much about Tobacco in India as it's about Tobacco and other substance (gutka, pan parags, crystals, bidis, pills, baba, sweety supari, goa) related disinformation methodolgies adopted globally! Legalizing Weed can be a great thing for the economy !

Abhishek Roychowdhary, Secunderabad

Sach main tho gutka aur tabbaco lane buri bath hai I don’t like if any one chewing guthka next to me because its make the city dirty. Everywhere there are stains jhidhar adhmi ko thook na nahi chaiya waha thook tha hai. Thats the bad part, achhi bath yay hai ki tarki dur kartha hai.

Dheeraj Khude, Mumbai

Personally I hate it, cos wen i see millions everyday spitting everywhere left right & center, it disgusts me to the core ideally I would want tobacco to be banned altogether but I know its impractical and not possible.

Prattyush Shahane, Mumbai

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Reason to ban smoking tobacco in public places isn’t for people to give up smoking. It’s banned so that non-smokers don’t suffer because of the 2nd hand smoke, which is a very valid thing to do & I suppose it should have been implemented long time ago. Something’s are better left to individuals discretion. As per abiding by norms of living in a free country, each one of us has a right to make a choice. Education, society, friends, exposure adds up to the way we think. I have seen people turning cold turkey all of a sudden. Of course, its for a reason. So until you find your reason, live it up.

Amit Ayre, Mumbai

Indian tobacco is good but Indian Tobacco Company, now they are into all sorts of business, FMCG and what not. ITC - goldflakes, wills, clssic...blah blah, the company started off as a cigarette company and now they are into everything. Can't say much, since I myself am a smoker and I wasn't trying to make any point apart from Indian tobacco quality is good.

Johnson Arkay, Mumbai

I think the recent ban on tobacco at public places is a great idea to start with. i believe to further curb consumption of tobacco is should be made very expensive to buy. like right now a pack of cigarette is rs 90 it should be made 300 lloll then the consumption will automatically go down. even those cheaper alternatives should become so expensive that its out of the reach of common man!

Amit Desai, Mumbai

I think tobacco in India provides employment to a lot of people in rural area. And in a labour intensive country likes ours, if tobacco gets banned then what happens to all these people? I personally feel that banning tobacco is not a solution because then lots of other things can also be banned! Education is necessary so people make an informed choice.

Averill Malakar, Delhi

Tobacco should be banned else people like me will smoke..tobacco is bad for health...it should be banned in all forms..a society cannot legalize a product which is surely bad for health..its not like alcohol. As alcohol is firstly not always bad for health also sometimes it is used as medicines, as in medical purposes. The lobby is supported only at economical level..Social usage cannot be a reason as lots of smokers try quitting it. Smokers want to quit it but as it is easily available and its hard to quit.

Vishal Agrawal, Mumbai

Since production of tobacco is concentrated mainly in rural areas, so its a cash crop of India. I do not think it should be banned because Indian tobacco quality is very good and mainly due to economic reasons as our tobacco is exported to all 3rd world countries. Also indian cigarettes are preferred because they are mild, mellow n last longer. Tobacco is also one of the ingredients in tooth powders.

Shoba Ramanujam, Mumbai

I completely support the ban. It's high time we thought about our friends and fellowbeings. It's only fair to be sensitive towards their choice and health if they supported smoking, they might as well hold a cigarette. Why force them to smoke passively. It's a shame that we need a ban, to realise these simple things. Every smoker must realise that it is good manners to respect non-smokers and saving them from passive smoking...

Meghana Biwalkar, Mumbai

Its good in a way that the government has imposed the ban, smoking is injurious to health. But each one is responsible for their own lives, not the government. Besides, the government rather then banning the object, should focus on the motive behind the object.

Shweta V, Mumbai

Firstly I think the smoking ban was a really good idea - it clearly has had visible results. Secondly I think smoking as a habit is not discouraged enough in India, as in its very socially tolerated and lastly India is sitting on a massive time-bomb of respiratory diseases... so some investment in healthcare for the same is due.. else the social costs of treating these diseases besides the sheer suffering will be unmanageable.

Jagrat Patel, Mumbai

I'm very happy with the no smoke legislation for hotels and restaurants, it has made going out such a good smoke free experience. You can eat
and spend time there in peace without smoke burning eyes or face

Neeti Mehra, Delhi

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India is the third largest consumer of tobacco in the world. Its not cigarettes that majority of Indians prefer but bidis, which constitute 70% of the tobacco smoked.

Bidis are more harmful then cigarettes, as they give more toxins like carbon monoxide, ammonia, phenol and hydrogen cyanide and contains more tar and nicotine than conventional cigarettes. So it causes more damage to the body then a cigarette.

Less tax on Bidis, more deaths

Smoking bidi is a growing menace in India with 100 million people smoking bidis, and 6 lakh deaths caused every year. The younger generation try bidi under the belief that its less harmful, since its cheap and has no warning label. Many a times, tobacco used in bidis may be mixed with flavors such as chocolate, vanilla, clove or pineapple to make them attractive to youth.

Bidis are smoked primarily by men, especially in rural areas, and are rolled by women, often in their homes. Since it provides large-scale employment, bidis are under-taxed compared to cigarettes.

A roller can make about 1,000 bidis a day and is paid Rs 40 to Rs 80 for the day’s work. But 10% of all female bidi workers and 5% of all male bidi workers are children under 14, and nearly 50% of these workers ultimately die of tuberculosis or asthma.

Tax on bidis are currently just one-twelfth of the tax levied on non-filter micro cigarettes (purchased by the poor) and just 2% of the tax on more expensive standard filters cigarettes.

But if the price of a pack of bidis was doubled from about Rs 4 to Rs 8, or if the excise duty was at par with other tobacco products it can reduce the consumption of tobacco.

An interesting and funny ad on anti-smoking featuring an old man who offers his seat to a smoker because smokers lose 7 to 11 minutes of their life with each smoke.

Each day 55,000 children in India start using tobacco, Gutkha the chewable tobacco is aimed at the younger generation of the country. But you may wonder how do these companies manage to reach the minds of this children when they are not allowed to advertise these products.

After the ban the companies opened their doors to surrogate advertisement, an advertisement has the logo or brand of another company advertised within it. Lets take a look at this report done by a french channel on surrogate advertisements done in India.



One of the biggest surrogate advertisement market is the film Industry Bollywood, in 2004 and 2005, 89% of all the released movies had smoking scenes in them. Below is a small documentary on smoking in movies, with interesting statistics on the current scenario in India with regards to smoking.



According to research done by the Salaam Bombay Foundation, 3260 children between the age of 12 to 17 years fro municipal and private schools were asked to fill out a self-administered questionnaire.

When asked to recall slogans of any tobacco company or brand…

• 71% recalled Manikchand – Oonche log, oonchi pasand


• 12% recalled Goa – Yahan bhi Khilate hain, whan bhi, Goa No 1


• 2% recalled Sanket


• 0.4% recalled Shimla


• 15% recalled other brands

When asked to associate slogans with brands 63% could associate the slogan while 37% could not. What kind of a message will a child get from, Oonche log, oonchi pasand

Some of the observations learnt through this research is that, Gutkha advertising has had a deep impact on the minds of children although it has been banned since August 2002.

As children cannot easily disassociate Manikchand Water from Manikchand Gutkha, tobacco manufacturing companies should not be allowed to use surrogate advertisements. TV and radio are the hotspots as to where these messages are broadcasted to the children, the future of our country!

Image Source:

Cartoon by Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi