Safety and Security
Tobacco, alcohol and medicines
Explain the dangers of tobacco and alcohol and how to use medicines safely.
Alcohol and tobacco (cigarettes, beedi, gutkha, khaini, pan masala) are the substances adolescents most often misuse. Nicotine is addictive and raises blood pressure; smoke has thousands of chemicals that cause cancer; carbon monoxide is poisonous; tar harms the lungs. Beedi is not safer than cigarettes; smokeless tobacco causes oral cancer.
Women are targeted by advertising; smoking harms fertility and in pregnancy causes premature birth and stillbirth. 'Light' cigarettes are not safer.
Warning signs of misuse: depression, falling grades, missing money, secrecy, new friends, aggression, isolation and risk-taking. Reasons people start: peer pressure, curiosity, rebellion; effects include poor focus, accidents, crime and suicide risk.
Myths like 'once does no harm' or 'alcohol helps forget' are false; quitting often needs family support and medical help as well as will power. Refuse firmly: true friends accept a 'no'.
Medicines: only as prescribed by a doctor, at the right dose and times, with water; check manufacture and expiry dates; store as the label says; do not buy weight-loss or 'beauty' drugs from advertisements.
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