India: VHAI Demands Ban on Tobacco Products in J&K

Source from:  Business Standard 05/18/2016

Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI) today pitched for a blanket ban on tobacco products in Jammu and Kashmir and sought cooperation from the society and the government in this endeavor.

"We want that there should be a total ban on various tobacco products in the state. No tobacco product should enter the state through Lakhanpur entry-point. We want the state to get rid of this menace," VHAI state head, Ali Mohammad Mir, said here.

He was speaking at Media Sensitization Workshop conducted by his organisation.

Mir said the aim of VHAI was to make people understand what smoking could do to them and also impress upon the government the need for better implementation of relevant laws.

"We do not want our coming generation to get involved in drugs. Smoking is the gateway to drugs and we want our youth to stay away from it," he said.

He lamented that cigarette companies are still using advertisements to lure youth into smoking and demanded a complete ban on it.

"They are using big boards and display them at shops or other places illegally. We have taken up the matter with the police and have been assured action will be taken," he said.

He claimed due to the efforts of VHAI, the police have realised a fine of Rs 52,55,572 from people smoking in public places in the state in the last three years.

The workshop was informed that 23 lakh people in the state were active smokers, which equals the population of Namibia or Qatar.

However, he said, that 30 per cent of the smokers in the state have attempted to quit in the last year. Enditem