Sale of loose cigarettes, tobacco banned in state

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 6

Punjab today became the first state in the country to ban the sale of loose cigarettes which account for 70 per cent of all tobacco sales on a pan-India basis.

The Punjab Health Department notified the ban this evening. It said the sale of loose cigarettes and loose tobacco violated Section 7 of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2005, which says no tobacco product can be sold without pictorial warnings about its health consequences.

“Since loose cigarettes were easily available, children were getting addicted to these. The decision will also help reduce the overall use of tobacco in the state where tobacco use is high despite the majority Sikh population,” said Rakesh Gupta, state programme officer, Tobacco Control Cell, Punjab. Punjab had banned the sale of flavoured and scented tobacco last November.

“By banning loose cigarettes, Punjab has demonstrated its commitment towards safeguarding the health of its people, especially the youth. The Government of India should take a leaf from Punjab,” said Bhavna Mukhopadhyay, executive director, Voluntary Health Association of India.

A study by the Public Health Foundation of India had showed that the total economic costs attributable to tobacco use from all diseases in 2011 was a staggering Rs 1,04,500 crore, 12 per cent more than the combined state and central government expenditure on healthcare the same year. Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) shared the highest burden (Rs 3,600 crore) on direct medical and indirect morbidity costs followed by respiratory diseases (Rs 2,800 crore), tuberculosis (Rs 2,300 crore) and cancers (Rs 1,400 crore). Government data shows that 37 per cent children are initiated into smoking before the age of 10 and each day 5,500 children begin tobacco use, mainly because of access to cheap, single sticks at kiosks.