The link between cancer and the consumption of tobacco has been established beyond doubt, yet weaning away people, more notably adolescents, from tobacco use has a poor success rate, if not met with outright resistance and defiance (Editorial, “Fire without smoke”, June 4). Data on a thinning smoking population in India may be heartening news but the ground realities convey that those who are initiated into tobacco far outnumber those who have quit. Today’s free Indian youth do not need sermons, much less watchdogs over their conduct in public. Personal liberty and privacy are the bywords today. In most residential complexes in London, smoking is a very strict ‘no’ for all. Can we dare enforce such a rule in the Indian context?
Sivamani Vasudevan,
Chennai