Ban on loose cigarettes: Government is preparing to ban selling cigarettes in the open. According to a survey, 57 percent of consumers buy open cigarettes and 87 percent are against this ban.
Ban on loose cigarettes: Changes in the law on cigarettes and other tobacco products prohibit the sale of open cigarettes and the proposal of smoking areas for smoking cigarettes. Does not agree. This has been revealed in a study. Non-commercial entity PRAHAR surveyed it in 14 cities including Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Guwahati and Vadodara. In this 1,986 people were interviewed.
The survey found that 78 percent of respondents do not support raising the age limit for tobacco from 18 to 21 years. The Public Response Against Helplessness and Action for Redressal (PRAHAR) said in a statement, “The survey found that 87 percent of the participants do not support the proposal to ban the sale of open cigarettes. They believe that this decision to reduce tobacco consumption will force the smokers to buy the entire pack. This will always make cigarettes available in their hands, which will ultimately increase consumption. ”
57 percent of consumers buy open cigarettes
According to the survey, 57 percent of consumers buy open cigarettes, as it helps them to smoke less. Only 19 per cent choose this option due to less money. Only 7 per cent of the respondents felt that they would not be able to smoke cigarettes due to the ban on the sale of open cigarettes.
This law will not serve the purpose
On this survey, Abhay Raj Mishra, President of Prahar said that the proposal of COTPA (Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act) Act 2020 is not good. It is going to spoil the structure of the market instead of reducing the consumption of tobacco. This will speed up its sale illegally. If you have to control substances like tobacco, then there is a need to run awareness programs continuously. The COTPA Amendment Bill 2020 has been proposed by the Ministry of Health. Its purpose is to ban the sale of cigarettes to children below 21 years of age and to control the sale of open cigarettes.
