Hyderabad: New Zealand has become the first country in the world to pass a law imposing a lifetime ban on young people buying cigarettes. The country on Friday passed the law prohibiting the sale of tobacco to anyone born on or after January 1, 2009.
With the new law, the minimum age for buying cigarettes will keep going up and up. In theory, somebody trying to buy a pack of cigarettes 50 years from now would need an ID to show they were at least 63 years old. New Zealand plans to become smoke-free by 2025.
The new law also reduces the number of retailers allowed to sell tobacco from about 6,000 to 600 and decreases the amount of nicotine allowed in tobacco that is smoked. The question arises is can something similar be done in India, the home to approximately 120 million smokers?
According to the World Health Organization, around 12% of the world’s smokers live in India. In fact, smoking and use of tobacco in other forms is a major risk factor for many chronic diseases, including cancer, lung disease, cardiovascular disease and stroke.
It is one of the major causes of death and disease in India and accounts for nearly 1.35 million deaths every year. The total economic costs attributed to tobacco use from all diseases in India amounted to 1,77,341 crore in 2017.
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Smoking in public places was prohibited nationwide from 22 October 2002. However, cigarette sales have hardly dwindled in the country. This is when even the WHO has recommended India impose a 75 percent tax on tobacco in the country. Can smoking be completely banned in India or can the country bring in law as New Zealand did? The answer to the question, for now at least, is a big NO.
The reason is the economics behind it. As per a study by Industry chamber Assocham, the sector contributes a whopping Rs 11,79,498 crore to the Indian economy and employs an estimated 4.57 crore people. The Assocham study says the figures were arrived at by measuring the total cumulative intrinsic economic value generated by the sector over the years.
So it is unlikely that the government would bring any radical law to stop smoking altogether. However, according to reports, the government may soon ban the sale of loose cigarettes. The Standing Committee of Parliament has recommended a ban on selling single cigarettes to curb the use of tobacco products.
The Standing Committee of Parliament argues that the sale of loose cigarettes is affecting the tobacco control campaign. The committee also recommended doing away with the smoking zone in all airports in the country. If the government acts on the recommendations, Parliament may soon ban the sale and manufacture of single cigarettes.
