Why does tobacco intake continue undeterred despite ban by 14 states?

The World Health Organisation has announced the theme for World No Tobacco Day 2017 as “Tobacco a threat to development”, with one in ten deaths in the world still caused by tobacco.

Experts in Rajasthan have been urging the state government to ban tobacco products in the state, which has been done in 14 other states of the country. Banning wouldn't necessarily help prevent tobacco intake.

However, with more than 30 percent of people in the state taking tobacco, it will be a good place to start. Pawan Singhal, the state patron for Voice of Tobacco Victims (VOTV), told The Indian Express,

With an aim to catch them young, the industry projects tobacco products as equivalent to adulthood, modernism, affluence, classiness, and superiority.

This is a reality not just in Rajasthan but in many other states, even where tobacco is banned. There has been a voice for implementing The Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) too in Rajasthan.

COTPA doesn't restrict the manufacturing of tobacco altogether. If they follow conditions like displaying health warning on the packets, and as long as it is not being sold to minors or within less than 100 metres from educational institutions, they can actually sell it. Vishal Rao, an oral oncologist, told The Times of India,

Anything that is orally ingested constitutes food. By section 2.3.4 of the food safety rules, since chewing tobacco is put into the mouth and consumed, it immediately becomes food. However, over time, various methods were used to manipulate this definition to continue to sell the product. They even started selling it separately, instead of adding tobacco to food (flavoured additives like pan masala), allowing users to buy sachets and mix as they wished.

But one cannot be banned from chewing tobacco. And only when the terms and conditions are violated, the authorities get to take actions according to COTPA. The question of how can someone interfere with the informed choice of customers still prevails. Even when authorities have taken the effort to ensure that tobacco is not sold by mixing it with food, people still go ahead and mix it after purchase.

Hence, despite the laws, until people who take tobacco are willing to reduce and stop its intake, tobacco will still be taking a lot of lives.

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