Addictions

Reality Check, in India, the easiest possible drug available which gives a false high to the population here is tobacco. Tobacco addiction is so widespread, that you find a fifteen year old domestic servant chewing it, your driver chewing it, a 30 year old autorickshaw driver chewing it, a lady running a boutique chewing, fifty something mothers n grand mothers chewing it. There seems to be no end to this ubiquitously omnipresent drug. The person running a business chewing it and even professionals supposedly educated mass chewing it. When a person injects a drug to get a high, it’s a crime, however when a person chews tobacco all the time to continue in his false world of happiness there is no crime. The family is supposed to understand and accept that nicotine addiction is something the person cannot help himself with.  There are many addictions which people take up to get away from the real life, excessive TV watching, drinking, too much partying, loud music, face-booking, sun-worshipping, but nothing like tobacco, which you can do in the company of your children, your subordinates, your peers, your juniors, your parents, in short the whole world. Advertisements and statutory warnings are paid little heed. Or may be the addict just fails to see them. Every addict thinks that the possibility of getting the fatal disease Cancer due to tobacco addiction is something which cannot happen to him/her. Is it not enough to be able to call up your family or friends to de stress? Why potentially fatal addictions become stress busters and loving families are ignored in their favour? The human mind becomes a servant to the chemical reaction which gets triggered due to the nictotine content. The same mind which is supposed to be the biggest computer in the world and helps us see right from wrong. But to the addict, there is nothing wrong in his behavior. He/ She fails to see the impact the addiction is having not just in physical terms, which itself should be an adequate reason to quit it but in terms of emotional stakes involved. A drug addict needs immediate help and rehabilitation since, the effects can be seen on an immediate basis, however, a nicotine addict can continue with his irresponsible behavior for years till the time its too late for anybody to be able to help him/her. This substance is supposedly banned in Maharashtra, which again is a complete mockery of the legal system. It is as easily available as candy in shops. We have already lost a big percentage of population to this addiction and everyday the number keeps swelling but there is no urgency in the society to deal with the menace. Taking charge of your own and your family’s health and happiness should itself be a motivating factor in taking help in quitting any kind of harmful addictions.