Publisher's Synopsis
Abuse of drugs is one of the biggest curses that modern society has come across and has widely afflicted the globe. Today, no part of the world is free from the curse of drug trafficking and drug addiction. About 190 million people all over the world consume one drug or the other, such as heroin, smack, opium, tobacco, etc. (Ramakrishna et al., 2005). Of the various drugs abused worldwide, the most widely distributed and commonly used drug is 'Tobacco'. Many social, economic and political factors have contributed to the global spread of tobacco consumption. Cigarette smoke contains various harmful chemicals, which are inhaled through the respiratory system, absorbed into the circulatory system, and distributed to various organ systems where detrimental effects may occur (Low et al., 2004). Tobacco use is a global public health problem and it is estimated by World Health Organization that annually 4.9 million deaths occur due to tobacco consumption (WHO, 2002).Cigarette smoking is the most common form of tobacco use (Smith and Fiore, 1999), and is one of the most significant sources of morbidity and death worldwide (Murray, 2006). Over the past four decades, tobacco use has caused an estimated 12 million deaths in the world, including 4.1 million deaths from cancer, 5.5 million deaths from cardiovascular diseases, 2.1 million deaths from respiratory diseases and 94,000 infant deaths related to mothers smoking during pregnancy. Cigarette smoking is a complex behavior that includes a number of stages such as initiation, experimentation, regular use, dependence, cessation, and relapse (Ho and Tyndale, 2007; Malaiyandi et al, 2005; Mayhew et al, 2000).
