Even though February 25 was the deadline given by the apex court to regulate the rules on advertisement of tobacco products at their sale outlets, Tamil Nadu’s State Tobacco Control Cell (STCC) is trying hard to implement them despite the outlets trying to find loopholes.

Section five of the Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution Act, 2003 says that cigarette shops displaying advertisements larger than 60cm x 45cm at shops is banned.

Also, the rule says the board should contain warnings such as ‘tobacco causes cancer’ or ‘tobacco kills’ in an Indian language, displayed prominently, along with pictorial representations. This act had a seven-year stay put on it by the Supreme Court until now.

The STCC has been taking steps to regulate and curb tobacco consumption by conducting effective enforcement of the Anti Tobacco Act and monitoring the programme at the district level.

Smoke Free Chennai, an ambitious project of the STCC, is now aiming to discourage tobacco use in the state altogether. “This was started to protect the public from exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke at the work place and at home and restricting tobacco companies' marketing and promotional methods. Selling tobacco to minors is also a major concern for us. In fact, 35 per cent of the people who smoke now start doing so at the age of ten,” Dr P Vedivelan of STCC said.

With the help of a sanitary inspector, health officers and police cadre, the Smoke free Chennai campaign conducts surveys to spot hoardings and advertisements depicting tobacco products and remove them.

In India, smoking is completely banned in many public places and workplaces. “The law, however, permits the establishment of smoking areas or spaces in airports, hotels having 30 or more rooms, and restaurants having seating capacity for 30 or more. With loopholes like these, aiming for a stringent reduction in tobacco consumption is a far-fetched idea,” said Indian Council of Medical Research member Subhash Chaudhary.

(Apoorva is a student of ACJ, Chennai.)

Related Topics