As the world observes No Tobacco Day on May 31, with an aim to create awareness about the ill-effects of tobacco consumption, attention has been drawn once again towards the need to seriously initiate measures to control the use of such products in India, the second largest consumer of tobacco in the world, as per the World Health Organisation. While studies have revealed a decrease in smoking prevalence in the country over the years, thanks to an extensive campaign against it, rampant use of chewable tobacco in various forms like gutkha, pan masala and khaini by people of all ages, including children, is a matter of concern. Its use appears to have been normalised in the north-eastern states of India, as the prevalence rate of tobacco use among school-going children in the region is extremely high, standing at 57.9% in Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram (the highest in the country), followed by Nagaland at 42.6%, against the national average of 8.5%, while Meghalaya, Sikkim, Manipur and Assam are also among the top 10, as per the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS-4). These findings do not come as a surprise because children in school uniforms can easily buy tobacco products, including cigarettes and gutkhas, from shops in Dimapur and Kohima, as was found out by this newspaper in a sting operation conducted last year ahead of World No Tobacco Day. Notably, health experts have linked the high cancer prevalence in the region to the widespread use of tobacco.
In view of the serious health risks posed by smokeless tobacco, especially oral cancer, the government of India has introduced several measures, including the mandatory display of health warning labels, tax hikes and restrictions on its sale in public places and near educational institutions. Tobacco control laws like the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003; Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Act, 2019; and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015 have been enacted by the Centre, besides banning gutkha by several states, but that has failed to stop people from consuming such products. The ban on e-cigarettes, too, has gone up in smoke as they are readily available in the markets. By allowing traders and citizens to openly defy the prohibition, the government of India is making a mockery of its own laws. It is time to strictly enforce the existing laws and come down heavily on defaulters. The government of Nagaland is also expected to enforce its newly introduced tobacco vendor licence system soon after the formation of urban local bodies, the implementation agency of the policy, which is devised to address the high prevalence of tobacco use through regulated sales.
