Increasing use of tobacco, in the form of pan masala and gutkha that has a more devastating effect than the puff- PS Prakasa Rao No evil habit has enslaved the people of the whole world as the use of tobacco. Globally, tobacco has been identified as the foremost preventable cause of death and disability. Non-cigarette tobacco is a big worry for all of us. Chewing pan masala or gutkha has become an urban habit, with more and more educated people taking to it. 'Smoking is injurious to health' - This is a foregone conclusion. Surely, you may be a non-smoker, but that does not always make you free of the harm cigarettes can do, as 'passive smoking' can be as harmful as cigarette smoking. So, avoid being present at places where you are exposed to smoke. It is the probable cause of 25 diseases including cancer, cardio-vascular, cerebro-vascular, respiratory and pediatric diseases. Now, cardiologists and experts on respiratory diseases and cancer have joined hands to press the alarm bell over the increasing use of tobacco, in the form of pan masala and gutkha that has a more devastating effect than the puff. Tobacco smoking and its harmful effects: Tobacco is a poisonous substance. Nicotine that is the main ingredient present in tobacco is one of the most deadly poisons known to man. If the amount of nicotine present in a cigar are extracted and injected intravenously into a person, he would die as if he were given cyanide. Do you know that for every cigarette pack smoked by a smoker, he loses at least an hour of his life. Figures indicate that of all tobacco-users only 30 per cent are smokers. The rest take tobacco in the form of pan masala and gutkha. A survey among cardiac patients suggests that around 70-75 per cent have a history of tobacco-chewing, not smoking. It has also seen a spurt in heart and lung patients, with a history of consuming non-cigarette tobacco. Smokeless forms of tobacco are more difficult to detect and regulate than smoking. Indian experience indicates that initiation to tobacco quite often occurs during teens. For older youth, smoking is depicted as the key to peer-acceptance, social success and upward class mobility. Tobacco affects children and youth in a number of ways. In fact, The vulnerable age group is assaulted by powerful advertising that promotes the use of tobacco as fun, sophisticated style, besides symbolizing adulthood and rebellion. Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) and maternal smoking compromise children's health even before they are born. This is despite of all out efforts to fight the tobacco menace and movements launched to increase awareness about the susceptibility of the young and children to the ill effects of tobacco use. We should all protect children and the youth from the hazards of tobacco. Quitting of smoking is easy, non-expensive and no side effects: First, one should cut down the number of cigarettes and then stop smoking. One shouldn't think that 'one won't hurt', it will. And avoid situations strongly associate with smoking. Quitting of smoking helps others also by protecting them from harmful effects of passive smoking. In a significant policy to move to control the use of tobacco in India , the Supreme Court is banned THE SMOKING IN PUBLIC PLACES. It has set the stage for other national measures in relation to the control of tobacco. The government, that talks of development of rural areas and uplift of the poor, should not leave the masses in the lurch to suffer from the menace of crude tobacco products, such as beedi and gutkha. Apart from ill effects on health, tobacco has adverse effects on social well-being and national economy besides damaging the environment. These menaces can be prevented by joint efforts of parents, teachers and friends by creating alertness and awareness among young boys of the dangerous consequences of these. And also Social service organizations, Non-government organizations, Citizen's group, health organizations and media can form coalitions against tobacco use to mobilize public opinion. According to researchers, Cancer causing chemicals or carcinogens have been found in urine samples of half the infants born of parents who smoke. Thus Tobacco has to be addressed and fought now because the Infants, children and young people are becoming influenced. World Health Organization (WHO) says Tobacco will prematurely end the lives of 10 million people a year by 2020 if current trends are not reversed. The goal is a smoke-free world. So, don't smoke. It's better for the whole world. It is our sacred duty and obligation to protect our future generations from the hazards of tobacco use, as this is the right of every child.