75 per cent of Cigarettes Sold loose in India, says study

Source from:  IANS 08/25/2015

Nearly 75 per cent of all cigarettes in India are sold as single sticks valued at close to 30 per cent of the Rs 35,000 crore (over $5 billion) Indian market, an international journal says. The sale of single cigarettes, which is not in the interest of public health, is an important factor for early experimentation, initiation and persistence of tobacco use, says the study.

"Based on the data collected from 10 jurisdictions, we estimate that nearly 75 per cent (59-87 per cent) of all cigarettes are sold as single sticks," says the study, published in the Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention.

The study was conducted under the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease across 10 cities — Agartala, Baroda, Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Indore, Jaipur, Jorhat, Patna and Shimla. It recommends that the Indian government ban the sale of single cigarettes and eliminate "kiddy packs". (The ban does exist but is observed more in breach than in practice.) Enditem