Vol. 13, Issue 5 (2025)

The term "tobacco" refers to a variety of plants of the Solanaceae family genus Nicotiana as well as any goods created from these plants' dried leaves. Although there are more than seventy different verities (species) of tobacco, N. tabacum is the most widely grown kind. In certain nations, the more powerful variety N. rustica is also utilized. Nicotine, a highly addictive stimulant alkaloid, and harmala alkaloids are both present in tobacco. The majority of tobacco products, including cigarettes, cigars, pipes, and shishas, are made from dried tobacco leaves. They may also be used to make snus, snuff, chewing tobacco, and dipping tobacco. In India, tobacco use causes around 14 lakhs fatalities annually, or 700 deaths per minute. Use of tobacco significantly raises the risk of lung conditions, heart conditions, strokes, all types of cancer, and early mortality. Government agencies will eventually raise public knowledge of the dangers of cigarette, zarda, beedi use. Regulations that place restrictions on who can buy tobacco products, how and where they can be acquired, and where and when they can be used (like smoke-free laws in bars, restaurants, and other public places), additionally to advertising limitations and mandatory packaging health warnings, can all be used as policy-level measures to discourage smoking.