Srinagar: Consumption of tobacco products in Jammu and Kashmir has declined by at least two per cent in recent years, the state government has said.

The government also underscored the importance of implementing a total ban on use of tobacco and its allied products.

“As far as our state is concerned, the rate of consumption of cigarettes or any kind of tobacco has declined by two to three per cent in recent years,” Financial Commissioner, Health and Medical Education, Atal Dulloo, said at a workshop here Friday.

But the achievement would hen it reaches zero per cent, he said. 

Tobacco consumption has become the world’s leading single agent of death even though it is preventable, Dulloo said.

“Consumption of tobacco in our society is not a traditional practice rather it is an addiction,” he said.

Underscoring the need for a complete ban on the use of tobacco and its allied products in the state, Commissioner, Food Safety, Vinod Sharma, sought support of the people to deal with the menace.