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Famous Bridge in India is in Danger of Coming Down…Because of Spit (1070L)

Notes on my thoughts,

Activists reported about a year ago that one-third of men and one-fifth of women

reactions and questions as I

across India are addicted to chewing tobacco and gutkha was its most popular

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form. Because of its candy-like flavor and dirt-cheap prices — 4 to 6 cents per

sachet — gutkha has become increasingly popular among children, who chew

and even eat it. An estimated 5 million of India’s children are addicted to

gutkha, and every day another 5,000 try it for the first time, according to reports

last year by the American Cancer Society.

Research indicates that tobacco kills 1 million Indians annually and that gutkha

alone leads to 80,000 cases of oral cancer every year — the highest incidence in

the world. In recent years an anti-gutkha campaign has picked up steam across

the country with several nongovernment organizations lobbying for a ban on

gutkha. In August 2011, India’s Food Safety and Standard Authority issued a

regulation declaring that no foodstuff, including gutkha, could contain tobacco.

Last year some states began following the order by banning gutkha.

With Andhra Pradesh and Odisha states having banned it earlier this month, the

manufacture and sale of the product has now been prohibited in 17 of India’s 28

states and 3 of the 7 union territories (UTs), including New Delhi. However,

reports in many local newspapers suggest that gutkha is being smuggled from

other regions and is still being sold in many states.

Kolkata-based anti-gutkha campaigner Sekharesh Ghoshal said that states and

union territories should cooperate and ban the tobacco in the national interest.

“Sachets of gutkha display a warning that it’s dangerous for health. Yet gutkha

users do not pay any attention to such health risks and keep on chewing it,” says

Dr. Ghoshal. “Unless gutkha is banned and actually made unavailable in the

market, you cannot stop people from using it. A ban only in parts of the country

is of no help.”

But in many states the gutkha companies are fighting the ban by taking the local

government to court. They argue that gutkha is a tobacco product that cannot be

classified as a foodstuff, and therefore cannot be banned. Still, courts in most

states have upheld the ban.

Bela Naskar, the mother of two child addicts in a slum in Kolkata, says she

vehemently supports a ban on gutkha. “My 10- and 13-year-old sons have been

into gutkha for some years. They take several sachets of it every day. It’s bad for

their health. But they don’t listen to my warnings. We really need a ban on

gutkha in our state,” Ms. Naskar says. “Otherwise I shall not be able to rid my

children from this dangerous addiction.”

Rahman, S.A. Famous bridge in India is in danger of coming down…because of spit. Christian Science Monitor. January

20, 2013. Available at

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