Global Tobacco Epidemic: A Rising Concern

We all know that tobacco is injurious to human health and have heard this so many times at the start of every movie. But despite it, the use of tobacco is contagious and spreading way faster and so it’s related-death.

Tobacco was used as medicine earlier but after the invention of cigarettes, it has become common among us. It has become so common in the world that it has made its own space for the household spending on basic needs, such as food, shelter, and now tobacco.

Smoking is so common and feels so familiar, that it can be hard to grasp just how large the impact is. According to WHO ( World Health Organization), around 1.3 billion people worldwide use tobacco products. Among them, 80% of whom are in low-income and middle-income countries. Tobacco is used in two ways, smokeless and by smoking. Among them, China is the leading user of smokers with 300.8 million users and India has the highest number at 274.9 million users of smokeless tobacco.

The tobacco epidemic is killing more than 8 million people a year around the world and more than 7 million death are caused by the direct use of tobacco. There are various forms of tobacco, for instance:- Cigarette smoking, Cigars, roll-your-own tobacco, Bidis, and kreteks. An addictive product has a long history after becoming so common among us. But, from where was it initiated? Let’s do a little sneak peek into history.

A Sneak Peek Into the History of Tobacco & Its Use

Tobacco was first discovered by the native people of Mesoamerica and South America and later introduced to Europe and the rest of the world. Archeological studies found that the use of tobacco started around the 1st century BC when the MAYA people of Central America used tobacco leaves for smoking in sacred and religious ceremonies. Later, it spread as much as high to Mississippi valley. The migration of people was also one of the major causes of the spreading of tobacco in the world.

They used to introduce tobacco in marriage rituals and later it became an addiction. There is one of the incidents that happened in history when Columbus arrived on a new continent in 1492. The Native Americans brought gifts of fruits, food, and many more things. Along with all the gifts, he saw one nonedible dried leaf in the gift and it had a distinct smell.

Soon Columbus realized that dried leaves are a beloved possession among them as they swapped with them and offered them as a gift.

In India tobacco was introduced by the Portuguese in 1605, Portuguese used to plant tobacco in nearly all of their trading outpost, and the same happened with India. Initially, tobacco was grown in the Kaira and Mehsana Districts of Gujrat and later it spread all over the country.

Tobacco became a commercial crop till the 19th century. Tobacco became more popular after the invention of the cigarette-making machine by James Bonsack in 1881. Also, cigarettes gained much popularity during World War 1 and World War 2, when tobacco companies sent millions of packets to the soldier. It was included as a ration named C-ration which contains food including cigarettes for soldiers.

Why Tobacco is a Matter of Concern Now?

Earlier used as a medication purpose to become the most addictive substance, it has traped billions of people around the globe. Tobacco companies are gaining heavy profit by putting the lives of others under threat. According to the survey, it is estimated that around 35% of the males smoke daily and now even females are not lesser than that.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the use of tobacco has seen a rapid increase among youngsters. Around 1 to 4 high school, students used tobacco products in the previous 30 days in 2018. They use e-cigarettes mostly in the form of tobacco and it has increased from 11% to 20.8% among high school students.

Although e-cigarette is banned in India, consumption of tobacco over flavored cigarettes has seen a sudden rise. Methanol Cigarettes are flavored Cigarettes that reduce the harshness and give a reduced smell. According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), around 80% of black smokers use methanol cigarettes compared to 30% of white smokers.

Cigarette smoking is a carcinogenic mixture of more than 7000 chemicals that badly affects the body. A carcinogenic is a substance, organism, or agent that is responsible for causing cancer.

Tobacco Epidemic: A Threat for Non-Smokers Too

World Health Organization says in its report that cigarettes smoke not only affects the person who smokes but also those who don’t. Among 7 million death of those who are direct tobacco users, 1.2 million death are the result of Second-hand smoke.

Second-Hand smoke is the smoke that fills encircled areas when people burn tobacco products. As a result, almost half of the children regularly breathe polluted air from tobacco smoke. 65,000 children died every year from second-hand smoke. Also, pregnancy complications have been seen in pregnant women after the direct consumption of smoke or either by Second-Hand smoke.

One lady shared her experience with smoking during pregnancy and that, she had a huge addition of smoke. She could hardly quit smoking, and during her pregnancy period, she used to smoke 10 cigarettes a day. Doctors advised her to quit smoking immediately because it can harm her child.

After 34 weeks she found in a scan that her child was not growing for 2 weeks and her placenta was beginning to fail. In the few days after the baby was born, she found that her baby was very fastidious. And after 2 years her baby suffered from eczema and seemed to have a poor immune system.

Also, history says that tobacco has continuously been used as a weapon to fall against the enemy by putting them into an addiction to tobacco. To Increase the trade of tobacco and book a higher profit, tobacco-producing countries often introduced it to them. Earlier China and India were never the tobacco user countries. During the ’90s tobacco companies introduced them by putting tobacco into the tea. China natives found tea as an addictive element and later they found that it was tobacco that makes them highly addictive. But was too late to find out a solution because the demand for tobacco expanded significantly in China.

Today China is the leading user of tobacco products in terms of smoke with more than 300.8 million active users.

Control It Before It Controls You

Tobacco has become so big nowadays that simply banning it wouldn’t be enough. It is also a major source of income for tobacco farmers. Afghanistan’s tobacco farmers which are now under the control of the Taliban still depend much on tobacco farming because of attractive wages, compared to other commodities, as it improves their Income. It is sad to say that tobacco is running the country’s economy along with putting the life of natives under threat. Major economies like China is the leading producer of tobacco at the same time as the leading consumer.

Addiction to tobacco is so dangerous that a person can barely avoid the habit once comes under its jaws. There are lots of medicine available in the market that claim to be efficient to get rid of tobacco. But we assume it will hardly work until you want to shift your mindset on your own.

Excessive consumption of Tobacco has been seen as frequent in people who are taking much strain and are in a depression. They used to smoke for instant relief but soon it becomes part of their life.

There is also another way that might help you get rid of tobacco addiction. You must try to change your surrounding. A good company of good people will change your way of thinking and might influence you to be on the right path. There is a famous quote by Booker J Washington- “Associate yourself with people of good quality, for it is better to be alone than in bad company“.

Also, we would like to suggest to you that reading habits might stimulate your brain towards productive things rather than these fruitless addictions. Books always uplift your motivation whenever you are sad and will be your best friend while others are busy in this busy world.

 Habits can have a significant impact on one’s life, choose wisely.

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