The imminent risks due to tobacco use highlighted in at least three new reports, in recent weeks, ought to serve as a serious wake up call to kick the habit at an individual level.

With about 700 million kilograms of tobacco produced annually in the country, its exports earn over Rs 1250 crore in foreign exchange. Domestic sale of tobacco products contribute a whopping Rs 8400 crore annually by means of excise duty. Nonetheless, the total annual loss from healthcare costs including lost productivity is about Rs. 27,000 crore. Surely this outweighs revenue from tobacco-products' sales!

When compared to 1,790 cigarettes smoked in China and 2,193 in the US, our per capita smoking at 119 cigarettes may perhaps be the lowest. With 25 per cent of the overall population using tobacco in some form (an estimated 65 per cent of men and about one third of women) the alarm bells are surely ringing.

The latest World Health Organisation report "Global Tobacco Epidemic, 2008", points out that tobacco, the leading preventable cause of death, responsible for over five million deaths a year globally will take the lives of another 1 billion people in the 21st century. Rather, they will die prematurely.

Another WHO study on "Global Tobacco Use & Control Efforts" found that tobacco use among women which has risen rapidly in India with 9.7 per cent girls (13 to 15 years) using some form of tobacco compared to 3.1 per cent adult women. Are our young girls encouraged by female celebrities like Drew Barrymore, Julia Roberts and so on to accept smoking at ease?

Findings of a research on smoking and death in India published in the latest issue of "New England Journal of Medicine" warns that smoking will kill 10 lakh people in the country annually from 2010 and nearly 70 per cent of them will die young. It says that that there are no safe levels of smoking that both cigarettes and beedis are dangerous. If heart attacks are the leading cause of death in urban smokers, tuberculosis is taking its toll in rural areas.

Why do people smoke? For a plethora of reasons. Be it to impress someone, look sophisticated, and get accepted in society and so on. But once addicted, it's a habit, hard to kick.

But what have films to do with smoking? Habits of smoking can get contracted from social surroundings and not necessarily from images on the media. It's not that every person who watches movies starts to smoke.

Does seeing depictions of smoking in movies influence kids to smoke? Contrary to arguments, research seems to suggest that smoking on the big screen is an important factor for nonsmoking individuals, especially teenagers, to light up. Those who never smoked but who had higher exposure to smoking in movies developed more positive attitudes toward smoking.

Others who identified with stars who smoked also took up smoking. Notably, parenting style has its effects on adolescent smoking. While kids of neglectful parents smoke at the highest rates, kids of authoritative parents also smoke, but at the lowest rates. Notably

A study on the 'portrayal of tobacco in Indian cinema' in 2003 had revealed that cigarettes accounted for 72 per cent of all smoking incidents. Many respondents admitted they copied smoking styles of different characters and actors in the movies. An important finding that mainstream films highly influenced youth behaviour prompted the government to ban depiction of smoking scenes in films and television.

Interestingly, more recently, a Delhi High bench while hearing a petition by Bollywood director Mahesh Bhatt challenging the ban, as it curtailed their freedom to portray society as it exists, has reportedly delivered a split verdict. While one Judge quashed the ban as an 'affront on freedom of speech and expression', the other found it 'justified and reasonable'.

It was just last fortnight that Union health minister Anbumani Ramadoss urged Bollywood actors Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan not to smoke in movies, quoting statistics that 52 per cent children had their first puff after watching screen idols. Accepting the appeal to quit smoking in real life, Shah Rukh was quick to point out that since cinema was all about make believe, actors ought not be asked to curb "creative liberties".

Well, looking beyond reel life, it's about time we all realise that besides causing cancer and other preventable illnesses, it is the lungs and the heart that are the first casualties of smoking with the kidneys bearing the brunt of every puff. Thus, intake of nicotine over the years brings about micro-vascular changes in the arteries connected with the kidneys and as a result, the blood-flow gets affected.

Smoking could also ruin sex life as it can increase the risk of erectile dysfunction among men and compromise well-being and quality of life.

At a macro level, smoke-free public places, including hotels, hospitals, education campuses and government offices are gaining acceptance in the country. But the rate of quitting smoking is just 2 per cent, compared 9 per cent in China, 25 per cent in the US and 40 per cent in the UK.

It is high time that at an individual level smoking is stubbed out for good. True, kicking the habit it is not easy and much depends on the motivation to quit vis-à-vis the level of addiction to tobacco.

In quitting the smoking habit, activities that usually lend themselves to smoking ought to be avoided at all costs. To begin with, it pays to leave one's pack of cigarettes at home and spend free time day with friends who do not smoke. Instead of looking forward for a "smoke break", the decision to quit permanently can pay rich dividends.

Counselling and medical help can help overcome the nicotine withdrawal syndrome like irritability, frustration, anxiety, difficulty in concentrating, increased appetite, weight gain etc.

It needs to be appreciated that every cigarette shortens the lifespan by six minutes and each puff is a guaranteed step to premature self destruction. It's now or never!

Smoking facts

Tobacco, the second major cause of death in the world kills than five million people prematurely every year. One in every five deaths in the US is smoking related.

While in the company of a smoker, a non-smoker inhales about 15 per cent of the same tobacco as the former. For every 10 cigarettes smoked by a smoker, the non-smoker inhales the equivalent of 1-1/2 cigarettes.

Chronic bronchitis, pneumonia, and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases (COPD) are other ways that smoking kills both the smoker and the non-smoker alike.

Children of parents who smoke have an increased incidence of cough, bronchitis, ear infection and pneumonia.

Women who consume 3 cigarettes per day double their risk, not only of heart attacks but also of death from other causes.