PESHAWAR: Due to severe tooth discomfort, 46-year-old Nowshera district resident Alam Khan was taken to a private dental institution in an emergency. Crying with extreme anguish while placing his palm on his right face, Alam was promptly moved to the Oral and Maxillofacial Department of the Sardar Begium Dental College, Peshawar, for surgery on one of his right molars.
After doing a comprehensive examination, the doctor determined that the patient had rotting molars, which had also resulted in a serious gum infection because of the patient’s heavy usage of naswar since he was a teenager. The patient’s molar was taken, according to hospital senior surgeon Dr. Tahir Khan, because root canal therapy was not practical because of gum disease and decay.
“In an attempt to decompress from the stress of the MA exam in 2000, I started Naswar in a hostel with a group of friends, and since then I have not been able to leave the practice due to its addiction,” Alam said. He also mentioned that his teeth turned pale from excessive Naswar use, and that it resulted in the extraction of his two teeth. “I made numerous attempts to break this habit, but to no avail. Saliva splattering throughout the house and office negatively impacts my personality.
Dr. Tahir Khan stated that serious gum infections, problems with the jaw, and the loss of several teeth could be caused by naswar addiction.
Citing data from the Global malignancy Observatory, Dr. Tahir noted that lip and oral cavity cancers are the most common malignancy among men in Pakistan, accounting for 11,000 new cases annually among males. He told them that in addition to fraudulent quack physicians, “poor dental hygiene, tobacco use, and viral infections contribute to these alarming statistics.”
The doctor stated that about 10,000 people nationwide pass away from cancer of the lips and oral cavity each year, with chewable and non-chewable tobacco being the primary cause, along with bad dental hygiene habits, oncogenic virus infections, and genetic predispositions.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where almost 70% of the populace takes naswar without realizing its considerable health dangers, the drug is nevertheless widely used. The exceptional naswar of Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu, and Mardan, aside from Charsadda, Swabi, and Mohmand, was primarily sold to the provinces of Punjab and Sindh, but its demand in Karachi was great because of the large number of migrants from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa living there.
According to history, naswar was first used to treat her son’s migraines in Europe in the fifteenth century by a French envoy. It was first used medicinally, but over time, people began to use it instead of tobacco, and eventually it made its way to Indo-Pakistan.
According to Fawad Khan, who has worked in the Nowshera district’s naswar industry for the past ten years, consumers between the ages of eighteen and fifty seem to like Mardani, Charsadda, and Bannu’s naswar. “The cost of smokeless tobacco varies in the open market; 100 grams was being charged at a rate of Rs 25 per snuff packet,” he stated.
As for how it was made, he explained that the tobacco was first sun-dried, then ground into a powder. Water, calcium hydroxide, and artificial coloring were then added to the green powder, along with plant ashes, species, or oils to give it flavor. Lastly, the mixture was formed into small balls to give it the right shape.
Dr. Muhammad Naeem, former Chairman of the Economics Department, University of Peshawar, while referring to the data of the Pakistan Tobacco Board, said the naswar has an estimated market value of about Rs six billion per year, whereas its unchecked sale and manufacturing exposes its users to different health hazards.
He claimed that even though the federal excise duty on cigarettes has gone up, Naswar has not yet been included in the direct tax system. Federal excise duty on cigarettes under the first slab was set at approximately Rs 16,500 per thousand cigarettes if the on-pack printed retail price exceeded Rs 9,000 per thousand cigarettes. For cigarettes under the second slab, which also included locally produced cigarettes, the rate of federal excise duty was set at approximately Rs 5,050 per thousand cigarettes if the on-pack printed retail price did not exceed Rs 9,000 per thousand cigarettes.
In order to deter naswar addiction, the PTI government raised the tobacco tax to Rs 12 per kg and taxed naswar at Rs 5 per kg in the budget 2022–2023, according to Imran Shah, Director of the Social Welfare Department, who spoke with APP. But in response to criticism and public pressure, the PTI administration eventually retracted its intention to hike taxes on tobacco and naswar under the KP Finance Bill 2022. Instead, it attempted to reduce the tax on naswar from Rs 5 to Rs 2.5 per kg and to lower the duty rate on tobacco by Rs 6.
He claimed that twelve detoxification and rehabilitation facilities had been set up in various areas to treat and rehabilitate drug users. Peshawar, Mardan, Charsadda, Nowsehra, Swabi, DI Khan, Karak, and Kohat were the locations of these centers.
In order to shield people from the dangerous impacts of naswar, Imran Shah emphasized the necessity of widespread awareness campaigns through electronic, print, and social media in addition to the proactive role of religious academics and civil society. APP
