No Tobacco Day: Indians Can Buy 8.2 Pounds Of Rice With Avg Price Of A Cigarette Pack, Says Report

Tobacco use also contributes to poverty where household expenses reserved for basic needs are diverted to buy tobacco products.

As per WHO, tobacco kills half of its users. The tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health concerns. It kills up to 8 million people a year with 1.2 million deaths occurring as a result of non-smokers getting exposed to second-hand smoke. Within ten seconds of a puff, the toxic chemicals reach your vital organs. Smoking tobacco can harm almost all parts of the body. Tobacco use also contributes to poverty where household expenses reserved for basic needs are diverted to buy tobacco products. It might be interesting to know that not just tobacco consumption but also tobacco farming poses a threat to public health and the environment.

According to WHO’s report, across the globe, around 3.5 million hectares of land are converted to tobacco growing each year. Tobacco growing also contributes to deforestation and desertification of soil. Land used for tobacco growing loses fertility and develops a lower capacity for growing other crops. While the tobacco industry is often portrayed as the sole livelihood of these farmers growing tobacco but this is far from reality. The extensive handling of insecticides, pesticides and other toxic chemicals also poses a great health threat to the farmers who might be growing tobacco. Child labour is another human rights violation to be a consequence of this practice.

Rice or a packet of cigarettes?

Smoking is one of the most common forms of tobacco consumption worldwide. As per a report shared by the Institute for Global Tobacco Control (IGTC), 8.2 pounds of rice can be purchased for the average price of a pack of cigarettes. It is 4.7 pounds of rice in China and 1.1 pounds of rice in Pakistan per packet of cigarettes.

As per the report, India has 96,865 registered tobacco farmers and many more unregistered ones. Around 0.25% of India’s cultivated land is under tobacco production, which is witnessing an increase. For instance, according to figures from the Gujarat agriculture department, the average sown with tobacco was 68,200 hectares in 2003-04 and rose to 92,900 hectares in 2013-14 and 1.38 lakh hectares as of January 2023.

“We need food, not tobacco”

Every year May 31 is observed as the ‘World No Tobacco Day’. The theme of the day this year is ‘We need food. Not tobacco’. The campaign raised by WHO is to raise awareness about alternative crop production and generate other work opportunities for tobacco farmers. This will also encourage them to grow sustainable and nutritious crops.