Indians finding it tough to stub out smoking. Here is why!

35-year-old Tejas visits AIIMS hospital in India’s national capital New Delhi almost every month for his mouth cancer treatment. He stands in a long queue and sometimes sleeps on the floor the previous night to be the first one in the line the following day.

A rickshaw-puller by profession, Tejas has been chewing ‘gutka’ since time immemorial to him. He said a friend had asked him to try it out for fun sake in his early teens. He doesn’t remember when the ‘fun’ turned into a ‘habit’.

“It had become a time pass for me that you are chewing something and pulling the rickshaw. It became a habit and I could not do away with it. Last year I was diagnosed with mouth cancer and I had to completely stop it,” said Tejas as he bought medicines.

Tejas is not alone. Like him, many people get addicted to smoking, chewing ‘gutka’ and other tobacco products are an early age.

As India marked World Tobacco Day on May 31, people shared with us why it becomes difficult to stop.

Shadab Malik, an officer-goer who is in his early 30s, said he was in college first year when he took first puff of the cigarette.

“I was really tensed about my results and my friends, who used to smoke that time, asked to take a drag. I took two-three puffs. As I was an amateur, I did cough but it soon became a habit,” he said.

When asked if never thought of quitting it, he said, “After one or two times, smoking became a daily routine for me. I used to smoke two cigarettes then. More cool boys became my friends and I liked it. So eventually it became a habit. Now I think of quitting it but it is really very hard.”

On an average, Malik smokes fives cigarettes every day.

“Generally it starts in teens as a fun thing with friends but soon becomes a habit. Youth takes to this due to peer pressure as a fad or it may also be a way to deal with stress. During exams or while coping work stress or stressful situations and challenges in life, people tend to smoke more and get dependent on it. Smoking no matter in whatever amount is harmful for human consumption,” said senior psychiatrist Dr. Gorav Gupta.

Tobacco habits at a younger age impact health also.

“There are multitude of problems faced by teenagers who indulge in smoking such as chronic cough, fatigue, breathlessness, decreased capacity to perform physical work and last but not the least predisposition to cancer of oral cavity to the lung,” added Dr. Gupta.

According to India’s Health Minister J P Nadda, nearly eight to nine lakh people die every year due to diseases related to tobacco use.

The government in 2010 said that nearly 900,000 Indians die every year of tobacco-related diseases and as per the International Tobacco Control Project estimates, this figure could rise to 1.5 million by 2020 if users do not stop it.

To discourage any forms of tobacco, the government increased the size of health warnings on tobacco products. Nadda said that a slew of initiatives were being taken to reduce tobacco consumption including enactment of Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution Act 2003.

As per Canadian Cancer Society quoted by Reuters, India ranks 136th on a list of 198 countries that use such warnings to deter smokers.

Meanwhile, regular smokers say it is quite difficult to stub it out.

But as the old adage goes, where there is a will, there is a way, doctors say with focus and proper attention, people can do away with the addiction.

“A person who is willing to quit should work hard and whole heartedly towards his goal to quit smoking. They should avoid cues and situations which are associated with smoking or tobacco consumption. Try avoiding friends with whom one frequently smokes. Likewise, at work instead of cigarette breaks take a short nap or a walk in the corridor,” said Dr Gupta.

Dr Gupta expressed that one should be surrounded with positive people and maintain a journal to record how many times they broke the vow of not smoking.

Some even go on to say that people selling tobacco products should be sensitive enough to see to whom they are selling the product to.

“Everybody knows there is an age limit of 18 years but hardly anyone follows it. I have seen schoolchildren smoking. So, the enforcing agencies should also be proactive,” said Vikas Mehra.

(Image: Indiatimes)