Terming the 'tobacco menace' as a 'genocide', Maharashtra food and drug administration commissioner Uttamrao Khobraghade on Sunday urged the Centre to take steps for the nationwide ban of tobacco products as their harmful effects have been proved scientif

Banning of one or two tobacco products in Maharashtra alone will not help as the products get smuggled from other states, he said. It is time to divert billions of rupees that are used for processing tobacco and an equal amount for de-addiction, towards good human resource development, including education and employment to the youths, Khobraghade said at the inaugural function of the 42nd annual national pharmacy week here, held by the Indian Pharmaceutical Association (IPA), Maharashtra chapter, with the theme tobacco free future. The commissioner also urged professional bodies like IPA and other drug manufacturers’ associations to become the interface between the society and the government and take up the cause in a big way on a continuous basis to save the people and especially the youth from the disastrous effects of tobacco, at physical, economical and social levels. That is what a true democratic society should aim at, he said adding that tobacco menace is nothing less than a full-fledged war or genocide and it is the moral responsibility of the professional bodies and institutions and individuals to root out this menace.

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