To cut down on tobacco consumption here, Mangalore City Corporation officials should ensure unauthorised vendors of tobacco products – which have become ubiquitous on street corners – are shut down, said Chief Executive Officer Tulasi Maddineni here on Friday.
She was talking at the one-day workshop on the implementation of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003.
“The corporation should crackdown on the tiny make-shift shops that sell cigarettes and gutka on almost every street. If the access to cigarettes reduces, the consumption can be lowered by around 15 per cent,” said Ms. Maddineni, adding that previous requests to the Corporation had been scuttled
She emphasized the need to curb tobacco use in India as it was being taken up actively by the young. “Younger people are now getting cancer due to tobacco consumption. In effect, the government spends as much on health care to fight tobacco-induced cancers as it gets on taxes on tobacco products,” she said.
While highlighting the impracticality of a complete ban on tobacco products as it would affect nearly 60 lakh farmers, Ms. Maddineni said the focus of the anti-tobacco campaign should on reducing the demand for tobacco.
From health issues to the legal aspects, the workshop – which saw the participation of NGOs, police, education, and health departments – discussed the plan of action in the fight against tobacco.
