As World No Tobacco Day is approaching, Dera Sacha Sauda is gearing up for illuminating anti-tobacco rallies and educative functions across India. Cigarettes may look cool in the mouths of your favorite actors and idols, but it is a slow poison that not only hurts you but also the people around you.
It’s the same with other tobacco products, such as beedi, guthka, hooka, khaini, etc. Once you start these intoxicating practices, it is hard to quit. The path quietly descends into a state rife with diseases and ultimately death. Cancer is the disease that primarily affects tobacco users. Lung cancer, mouth cancer, tuberculosis, and heart disease are the curses tobacco brings for a few minutes of intoxication.
The institution has always fought against the blight of intoxicants in the society. It breaks families and adulterates happiness with ill health and possibly violence. Cigarettes can be considered a gateway to other heavy smokable intoxicants like ganja, crystal meth, and crack. It is common to find addicts who steal and hurt people to buy drugs. This splinter can only be removed through the method of meditation.
As a well-known drug rehabilitation and reform centre, Dera Sacha Sauda is helping tobacco-users break the habit. Meanwhile, the volunteers are working tirelessly to awaken the masses and the government against tobacco. Banners are carried with slogans against tobacco and drugs in processions. The march burns tobacco products and invites all people to do so too.
The initiatives of Dera Sacha Sauda have been somewhat successful. In 2008, a law was passed that mandated 40% of the cigarette packs to be covered with graphic warnings against cigarettes.
Last year in June, the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) was released. It was stated that the consumption of tobacco has steeply fallen. In a survey of 74,037 people, a 17% relative decrease was noticed, from 2010. Now, the Government of India is aiming 15% reduction by 2020 and further 30% reduction by 2025. The survey revealed that non-government organizations like Dera Sacha Sauda and Youth Veerangnayen played a major part in making this happen.
We will soon reach a stage when cigarettes and tobacco will no longer exist. Cigarettes only bring you a moment of solace and in return they take away 7 years off your life (as suggested by research). Dera Sacha Sauda urges the readers to stop this slow suicidal practice and choose a healthy and happy life instead.
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