Rs 131 crore is Srinagar’s annual tobacco bill

Tribune News Service
Srinagar, June 26

The Srinagar district administration has started inspection of shops in the vicinity of schools to curb of sale of tobacco products.

As part of the crackdown, which began yesterday, the district administration has booked nearly 50 shops and vendors found selling tobacco products in the close vicinity of schools, which is prohibited under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COPTA), 2003.

Deputy Commissioner Shahid Chaudhary, who is overseeing the crackdown, said simultaneous inspection were conducted by officials across the city and shops located close to prominent schools were also found involved in the sale of tobacco products.

The latest crackdown is not the first of its sort to curb the sale of tobacco products in Srinagar city, which spends a whopping Rs 131 crore annually on the purchase of cigarettes.

The campaign against the sale of tobacco products is part of an overall drive against drug addiction. Last week, the district administration had appealed to prayer leaders to create awareness on the rising menace in the region.

The cigarette consumption in the state is almost double the nationwide prevalence.

The prevalence of cigarette smoking is also alarming among students in Srinagar and a study conducted by senior doctors of Government Medical College has found that tobacco use among adolescents is growing at a “fast rate”.

The school-based cross-sectional study conducted from June 2015 to March 2017 in 20 high schools of Srinagar city had found that 29 per cent adolescent boys had smoked cigarette at some point and 23 per cent still smoked.

The study found that parent smoking, peer smoking, exposure to movie with actors smoking, lack of exposure to anti-smoking messages and lack of discussion in the classes about its hazards were “significantly associated” with cigarette smoking among adolescents.