Cigarettes, hookah, pipes, e-cigarettes, nicotine pouches, and vaping have trapped even young children in their vicious clutches, with nearly 37 million children aged 13–15 years and an estimated 1.25 billion adults worldwide using them. These products destroy both physical and mental health, leading to many potentially fatal diseases.
World No Tobacco Day 2025 highlights the urgent need to raise awareness, encourage individuals to quit tobacco usage, and mobilize authorities and communities to take action. It calls for the implementation of strict anti-tobacco policies, discouragement of tobacco’s appeal, exposure of its grave health risks, and empowerment of youth with the tools to quit and stay tobacco-free.
Tobacco use continues to be one of the top causes of preventable deaths globally, claiming millions of lives each year due to tobacco-related illnesses.
World No Tobacco Day 2025: Unmasking the appeal of Tobacco Products
Trapping the Youth: Uncovering the Dark Side of the Tobacco Industry
Tobacco and nicotine usage pose a major threat to youth globally, who often fall for their deceptive appeal. Marketing tactics by the tobacco industry, shiny packaging, peer pressure, social trends, and even direct persuasion by tobacco agents are some of the key factors that encourage first-time use.
Most Common Tobacco and Nicotine Products Among Youth are: E-cigarettes (Vapes), Nicotine Pouches (e.g., ZYN), Flavored Cigars, Hookah & Shisha, Disposable Vapes.
The tobacco industry uses insidious marketing tactics to promote these products as cleaner, smoke-free, or less harmful alternatives. However, they are highly addictive and just as dangerous as traditional tobacco products.
Hidden under flavors and flashy packaging, tobacco and nicotine can cause long-term organ and brain damage.
🚫 Health Dangers:
- Highly Addictive – Nicotine rewires the brain, leading to strong dependence, making it difficult to quit.
- Lung Damage – Vaping and smoking can cause irreversible harm to lung function, increasing the risk of respiratory issues.
- Heart Problems – Nicotine raises heart rate and blood pressure, increasing the risk of heart disease.
- Brain Development Risks – Teen brains are still developing, and nicotine exposure can impair memory, learning, and impulse control.
- Toxic Chemicals – E-cigarette vapor contains harmful substances like heavy metals, formaldehyde, and other carcinogens.
- Gateway to Smoking – Teens who vape are more likely to transition to traditional tobacco products.
- Marketing Manipulation – Flavors and sleek designs lure teens into addiction while masking the dangers of nicotine.
- Environmental Harm – Disposable vapes and cigarette waste pollute the environment, contributing to toxic litter.
Tobacco Use in Numbers
- In 2020, approximately 5.2 trillion cigarettes were consumed worldwide.
- Globally, 10 people die every minute from smoking-related causes—more than 7 million deaths annually.
- India has nearly 253 million tobacco users over the age of 15 with 200.2 million males & 53.5 million females
- 16 types of cancer have been directly linked to smoking, including cancers of the:
- Lung, mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, pancreas, stomach, liver, cervix, ovary, colon, rectum, and acute myeloid leukemia.
- It also leads to impotency, miscarriages, high birth defects, infant mortality and birth related complications in women.
From Meditation to Music: Stepping towards a Tobacco-Free Society
Life is incredibly precious, and every day is a chance to improve oneself and the world.
Saint Dr. MSG inspires the youth to channelize their energy into sports, fitness, and community welfare activities. These positive outlets help keep destructive temptations like tobacco and drugs at bay.
Through his musical influence, songs such as ‘Deh Ki Jawani’, ‘Aashirwaad Maaon Ka’, and ‘Jago Desh De Lokon’ have:
- Inspired countless youths to quit drugs
- Encouraged villages to enforce strict rules against selling such products
- Mobilized volunteers to help addicts reintegrate into society
The DEPTH and SAFE campaigns, initiated by Saint Dr. MSG, have been instrumental in empowering youth to overcome addictions and providing a clear roadmap for swift recovery—transforming the very fabric of Indian society and saving millions of lives.
Today, over 70 million people worldwide, nearly 70% of whom are youth, have quit and pledged to stay away from tobacco and intoxicants, gaining a new lease on life and experiencing it through a whole new spectrum.
The ‘Method of Meditation’ (Gurumantra) taught by Saint Dr. MSG has emerged as a powerful tool, elevating will power and strength to quit tobacco and intoxicant addictions, and stay firm in the resolve to abstain from using it.
Empowering the DNA, meditation also helps with faster recuperation, enabling individuals to live healthier and better social and family lives.
With the loving and sacred guidance of Saint Dr. MSG and these tools at hand, millions have turned around their lives and living a healthy, tobacco-free life.
Say ‘No’ to Tobacco, ‘Yes’ to Life
This World No Tobacco Day, say ‘No’ to the devil of tobacco, protect your loved ones and spread awareness; educate the youth in schools, colleges about the devastating impacts of tobacco.
Addictions can be broken, and dreams can be achieved—don’t let tobacco stand in your way.
Every member of society, young or old, has the capability to contribute positively.
So join hands and work together to eradicate tobacco from homes, communities, and the world.
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