For the kind attention
of;
His Excellency, Justice O.
P. Verma,
Governor of Punjab and Administrator of Chandigarh,
Raj Bhawan,
Chandigarh
GLORIFICATION OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS AND ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES AND OPEN DISREGARD
FOR LAW
His Excellency,
As a responsible member of
the civil society, we at Burning Brain Society share our concern for the
young people and issues concerning the public at large.
The issue
of tobacco and its advertisement concerns the general public and their
health and has long term consequences on the public, the young people
and the country as a whole. As tobacco & liquor are also the gateway to
other substance and drug abuse so any neglect of established laws is going
to have a significant multi-dimensional and complex effect on the future.
Government of India has
appreciated the facts relating to the harmful effects and consequences of
tobacco use which has resulted in the form of “The Cigarettes and Other
Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and
Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003.” In the preamble
of the Act itself, it has been mentioned that;
World Health Assembly
has
urged Member States to consider in their tobacco
control strategies plans for legislation and other effective measures for
protecting their citizens with special attention to risk groups such as
pregnant women and children from involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke,
discourage the use of tobacco and impose progressive restrictions and take
concerted action to eventually eliminate all direct and indirect
advertising, promotion and sponsorship concerning tobacco;
AND WHEREAS, it is considered expedient to enact a comprehensive law on
tobacco in the public interest and to protect the public health;
AND
WHEREAS, it is expedient to prohibit the consumption of cigarettes and other
tobacco products which are injurious to health with a view to achieving
improvement of public health in general as enjoined by article 47 of the
Constitution;
India’s
commitment on the issue is further strengthened by signing and ratification
of the “Framework Convention of Tobacco Control.” The guiding principals of
FCTC further mentions as follows;
2.)
Strong political commitment is necessary to develop and support, at the
national, regional and international levels, comprehensive multi-sectoral
measures and coordinated responses, taking into consideration:
(a)
the need to take measures to protect all persons from exposure to tobacco
smoke;
(b)
the need to take measures to prevent the initiation, to promote and support
cessation, and to decrease the consumption of tobacco products in any form;
(c)
the need to take measures to promote the participation of indigenous
individuals and communities in the development, implementation and
evaluation of tobacco control programmes that are socially and culturally
appropriate to their needs and perspectives;
The
political commitment, as talked about in FCTC is now more-or-less there, but
unfortunately the implementation at the ground level is yet to be achieved.
As a
commitment to reduce the use of tobacco and dissuade youngsters from
tobacco control a specific ban on any form of advertisement in “The
Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and
Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act,
2003” Section 5 and Rule 4 made therein. Section 5 clarifies that No
person engaged in, or purported to be engaged in the production, supply or
distribution of cigarettes or any other tobacco products shall advertise and
no person having control over a medium shall cause to be advertised
cigarettes or any other tobacco products through that medium and no person
shall take part in any advertisement which directly or indirectly suggests
or promotes the use or consumption of cigarettes or any other tobacco
products. Not more than two boards, not exceeding the size of ninety
centimeter by sixty centimeter can be used for advertisement for cigarettes
and any other tobacco products and which can only be displayed at the
entrance or inside a warehouse or a shop where cigarettes and any other such
tobacco products are offered for distribution or sale.
The emphasis is on the word
BOARD and the SIZE OF THE BOARD. It clearly conveys that no other form of
advertisement is allowed; but all over the region Cigarette companies are
affixing boards much bigger than the specified size and engaging in many
other forms of advertisements. Even electrical shops, departmental stores
and such like establishments have also affixed boards carrying advertisement
of tobacco products. In most of the cases these boards are not affixed at
the entrance or inside the establishment but affixed outside on the top of
the shop and aided by back lit or neon lighting. This is certainly against
the law but still the Government is doing little to book the offenders.
Government of India has also
shown its commitment in preventing the young people from taking to the habit
of tobacco consumption by specifically banning its sale to young people, but
most unfortunately this provision is gallantly ignored and most vendors can
be seen selling it to young people and above all children as young as 10-12
years can be seen selling it too. Besides, it has come to our notice that
when young people go to buy tobacco products the tobacco vendors have now
started charging a premium (Black-marketing) from young people after telling
them about the ban. They are not only selling tobacco products openly to
young people but also making double the money now by doing so. The
authorities have turned a nelson-eye to this too.
It is also important that by
law, sale of tobacco products by minors is banned; wherein in the Beedi and
Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966 the involvement of young
people at any stage in manufacturing process is banned but if the sale of
the tobacco product by minors is allowed the whole purpose is defeated. It
may be mentioned here that the distributor who provides/sells/distribute the
product to such young people for further sale can be aptly booked for the
violation. Further the Government may also be recommended to amend the act
to prohibit the sale of tobacco products by minors.
Smoking in public is as
prevalent as before the enactment of the said law. All public offices,
public places, hotels including Government controlled and run hotels
continue to disregard the law in this regard. Even the statutory board to be
affixed at public places, as mentioned in Rule 3, which requires that The
owner or the manager or in charge of the affairs of a public place display
prominently a board of a minimum size of sixty centimeter by thirty
centimeter in the Indian languages(s) as applicable, at least one at the
entrance of the public place and one at conspicuous place(s) inside,
containing the warning “No Smoking Area - Smoking here is an offence" is
missing from each and every establishment of the region. What to say, even
the D.C. Office, Secretariat, Bus stand, Police Stations, Citco and other
Government controlled hotels too are openly breaking the law in this regard.
Shouldn’t such officials who are supposed to implement the law be punished
much more severely when they themselves commit an offence under the same
law?
Shops at most places, under
the control of the Government, where people should not smoke, like the
bus-stand, educational institutes, courts, etc. are still selling tobacco
products actively. Punjab University, ISBT, High Court and other such place
continue to have cigarettes shops and other commercial establishments too
operating from such place continue to sell tobacco products illegally. How
can the ban on smoking be effective if such places, under the control of the
government continue to sell tobacco product within their premises? Shouldn’t
this be stopped immediately?
Same kinds of violations are
apparent with liquor products too. Advertisement of liquor products can be
seen all over the region. Surrogate advertisements which leave very little
to imagine, galore. All wine shops are adorned by scores of hoardings,
banners and posters. The glorification and glamorization of liquor products
prompt the young people to drink besides conveying that doing so is
fashionable. Shouldn’t all such advertisements be removed especially when
they are against the law?
It is high time to
understand that smoking and alcohol consumption is the first step towards
drugs and substance abuse. Most drug users graduate into drugs and substance
abuser from first being a smoker or alcohol consumer. It is important to pay
attention to the basic prevention. We must take care that the young people
including school going children do not start the habits of smoking and/or
drinking. It is important to enforce with commitment the laws in this regard
and we should do everything possible to stop glorification and glamorization
of such products. Government spends a large amount of money on de-addiction
programmes with little success. Member of the public who do not consume
tobacco or liquor also bear the brunt of tobacco and liquor in many ways,
passive smoking is just one of them. Public hospitals bear the burden of
tobacco and alcohol related ailments and spend lots of resources on such
diseases. Law and order problems because of alcohol are very well known.
Then why shouldn’t we become serious about the issue and put a stop to its
further use and at the least enforce the laws in this regard seriously?
Since many among the
enforcement agencies and the decision making body themselves are tobacco
users so they have a dwindling commitment which dilutes the drive against
tobacco. It is important that people who consume tobacco be removed from the
chain of command in a drive against tobacco. This may also be considered. Cotinine, which is a major metabolite of nicotine, can be screened during
the annual health checks of the Government officials, this way officials who
consume tobacco can be identified and removed from the decision making chain
related to enforcement of laws relating to smoking and drug use resulting
in increased commitment against laws made in this regard
As our way of contributing
on the “Day against drug abuse,” on June 26, 2004, we started video graphing
the violations with regard to the display of advertisements of tobacco and
liquor products. This 23 minutes raw video film, which we are presenting
your good self, is just illustrative in nature. The violations are so open
and common that wherever we went, we had something to cover. Violation of
the law is everywhere and with very little efforts we could video graph some
of the violations. Hundreds of people are knowingly violating the law and
can be booked in a single day with lakhs of Rupees as collections in the
form of penalties.
We appeal that the future
generation and the members of the general public who by choice do not
consume such products be protected from the harmful effects of tobacco and
other alcoholic products.
We further appeal your high
office to take such necessary steps which help in enforcing the law made by
the Union of India and establish the rule of law and not the commercial
interest of cigarette & liquor companies, who are selling nothing but slow poison.
Yours cordially,
Hemant Goswami
(Chairperson)
On behalf of all the members
of “Burning Brain Society” and the members of the civil society.
burningbrain.org