Mumbai: Maharashtrians are highly knowledgeable about the ills of tobacco, with over 85% having some idea about the cancer–stick’s killing ways. Yet the state remains one of the largest consumers of tobacco in the country and every third adult is hooked to the habit, says the Global Adult Tobacco Survey’s fact sheet for Maharashtra.

Statistics for the state were culled out of the two-year-old survey to highlight the worrying popularity of gutka. Over 28% of those surveyed were addicted to the substance, said the survey, which was released at Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH), Parel, on Friday.

The idea was to seek a ban on gutka in Maharashtra. "Legislation is important because the tobacco habit is responsible for 50% of all noncommunicable diseases in India. It is responsible for 40% of deaths here," said TMH director Dr Rajan Badwe.

Experts and activists want the state government to ban gutka using the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, which was notified for implementation from August 5, 2011. Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Bihar have already banned gutka.

Dr P C Gupta of Healis Sekhsaria Institute of Public Health, which was a part of the survey, said, "It is worrying that the average age of initiation has been steadily falling; 64.6 % of tobacco users consume tobacco in the first 30 minutes of waking up."

Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi, a senior doctor at TMH, said that as per the survey, nearly two crore Maharashtrians aged above 15 consumed smokeless tobacco. "By WHO criteria, every second tobacco user dies prematurely because of tobacco. Therefore, millions of Maharashtrians could die prematurely because of smokeless tobacco."

He said tobacco--both smoking and smokeless variants--are as much a drain on the economy as they are a health hazard. "Treatment of cancer runs into lakhs. This loss on healthcare expenditure will be to the tune of billions of rupees."

Incidentally, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, though not present at the release of the report, said in a letter, "The Maharashtra government is well aware of the situation and has initiated strong steps to curb the menace of smoking. We have notified all provisions of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003, and are committed to take strict action against all violators. With the proposed introduction of the gutka ban, we are looking forward to a tobacco-free Maharashtra."