What is it?
Tobacco is a plant grown for its leaves, which are usually dried in order to make harmful and addictive products.

How is it used?
Tobacco products can be consumed in various ways. They can be smoked, chewed, or snuffed and of all tobacco users:

• 44% are bidi smokers
• 16% smoke cigarettes
• 16% smoke cigarettes

It seems like everyone uses it?
There are about 12 crore tobacco users in India. This includes 37% of all adults using tobacco in some form or the other as well as children and a growing number of young people. They do not know better and it is up to each and every one of us to care enough, talk about the ill-effects on the body and to make them quit.

Is it really as dangerous as people make it out to be? Absolutely!
Tobacco contains chemicals in the form of carcinogens and tar that can harm nearly every organ of the body. The addictive and psychoactive chemical nicotine has deadly effects:

• 9,00,000 people die every year due to tobacco-related diseases
• One tobacco related death occurs every 8 seconds
• Tobacco contributes to about half the cases of cancer (56% and 45% of cancers in men and women, respectively).
• India has the largest number of oral cancer cases in the world, which is due to tobacco.
• Tobacco smoking accounts for 82% of chronic obstructive lung disease in India.
• Prevalence of TB is about 3 times as great among smokers when compared to non-smokers.