Dimapur marks World No Tobacco Day

EMN Dimapur, May 30 Nagaland observed World No Tobacco Day with the theme “Stop Illicit Trade of Tobacco product” on May 30. Besides the state government , other institutions also observed the event with functions.This year, the theme for World No Tobacco day set by the World Health Organization (WHO) is “Stop illicit trade of tobacco products”. The illicit tobacco trade is defined as “the production, import, export, purchase, sale, or possession of tobacco goods which fail to comply with legislation (FATF 2012) ”.Understanding tobacco and its source The WHO has chosen this theme because these practices have assumed dangerous proportion throughout the world. Illicit tobacco trade activities fall under three categories: • Contraband: cigarettes smuggled from abroad without domestic duty paid • Counterfeit: Tobacco products manufactured without authorization of the rightful owners, with intent to deceive consumers and to avoid paying duty • Illicit whites: brands manufactured legitimately in one country, but smuggled and sold in another without duties being paid. “The illicit trade of tobacco is both supply and demand driven, as consumers look to save money by evading taxes on tobacco products; and suppliers want to take advantage of easy border entry, high profit margins, and weak repercussions if caught,” the Tobacco Control panel of the department of Health issued a handout in the interest of public health, on Saturday to mark the occasion. Illegal cigarettes are priced much cheaper than legal cigarettes, and do not undergo stringent regulation in the form of health warnings, product checks, or age verification. The easy availability of these contraband products is not only a threat to health but these checkmate the efforts of the Governments around the world, in raising taxes on tobacco products to discourage the people to continue the habits. When the tax is raised many switch to illegal and cheap cigarettes. Today low cost of production and high level of demand make cigarettes the most illegally trafficked goods in the world. The global scale of illicit cigarettes has reached an all-time high as governments are estimated to lose USD50 billion in global governments revenue every year. Terrorists, terror groups make money from tobacco “Where is this profit going then? Now there is evidence that illicit tobacco trade is linked to global terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah which utilizes this profit to finance terrorism around the world,” the department stated in the handout. Billingslea (2004) wrote, terrorist groups work with organized crime groups as well as International drug trafficking organizations due to their “established trafficking routes and business contacts for the transfer of commodity for profit”. He adds, known and suspected Hezbollah and Hamas members have established front companies and legitimate businesses in the cigarette trade in Central and South America. The IRA (Irish Republican Army) was one of the first groups to begin using cigarettes to fund their activities. In the Middle East, the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) has known involvement in the trafficking of contraband cigarettes and tax stamps. The department stated: “It is not surprising that all illicit cigarettes are available in our own backyard. During the inspection carried out by the Dimapur District Anti-Tobacco Squad it was found that many shops were selling all types of illegal cigarettes mostly trafficked from Myanmar. This products deprive the government of revenue but costs of illicit trade also go beyond purely financial measures, with repercussions such as encouraging youth uptake of smoking, and increasing health risks for consumers, as illegal cigarettes are not bound by product and ingredient checks. The ICC (International Chamber of Commerce) warns counterfeit cigarettes were found to contain unsanitary ingredients (such as human faeces, dead flies and moth), as well as a higher dosage of lethal substances in excess of legitimate cigarettes. Illicit cigarettes seized in Canada and the United Kingdom were found to contain five times more cadmium, six times as much lead, 160% more tar, and 133% more carbon dioxide. The counterfeit products available in our part of the world will not be any better if not worse. In our state we also face a difficult challenge from counterfeit pan masala products most of which contain very high amount of nicotine, magnesium and ash. “Hundreds of our youth are picking up tobacco habits through Pan masala route and still many are aware of it. Pan masala industries are home based and it is poorly controlled or no control at all by the government. Dangerous ingredients like tobacco and artificial flavor are added to it and are sold as mouth fresheners,” the department stated. “Naga society which is a Christian state has become so tobacco complacent as 57 % of our population take tobacco but this trend is going to cost us dearly not very far from now. It is high time that these products are brought under the purview of illicit trade practices,” the Tobacco control cell stated. It is a wake call for all the stake holders, the administration, police, taxes and excise department, nongovernmental organizations and national tobacco control program to coordinate and stop these illegal practices if we are to save our future generation from the clutches of tobacco addiction. World No Tobacco Day was observed in Don Bosco High Secondary School on May 30 as well. District Education Officer R Amongla Jamir, graced the function as chief guest. Chief Medical Officer Dr MA Wati spoke during he function. Also, an inter- school poster-making competition was conducted to mark the event. Students from 20 “tobacco-freed” schools participated in the event. Katirenla from St Josef School of Chumukedima, Shongmao from government higher secondary school of Nagarjan, and Ashim from Chistian Mission School of Diphupar were adjudged the first, the second and the third-placed winner respectively. Modern Institute of Teacher Education marks day World No Tobacco Day was observed on May 30 by the Modern Institute of Teacher Education in Kohima town with the theme “Stop Illicit Trade of Tobacco Products’. During the occasion, the vice principal of MITE delivered a short speech on the topice “How to refrain from Tobacco.” B.Ed students and teachers also expressed their views during the event. Also an essay competition themed on encouraging youth to abstain from consuming tobacco was organized by the college.