PMK founder S. Ramadoss on Saturday demanded a ban on the manufacture and sale of tobacco products in Tamil Nadu on the lines of the one imposed by the Kerala government.
Citing a report published by the Cancer Institute, Adyar, that the sale of tobacco products had increased in Tamil nadu, Dr. Ramadoss said that according to the report of the World Health Organisation (WHO), around 20 crore people in India chewed tobacco and 40 per cent of them died of the habit.
In Tamil Nadu, though there was a ban on selling tobacco products within a 400-metre radius of educational institutions, it was not being implemented, resulting in more and more students falling prey to the products.
Dr. Ramadoss said that the Supreme Court had suggested a ban on tobacco products and Madhya Pradesh had implemented it.
“States such as Odisha, Rajasthan, Bihar, Maharashtra, Assam and Jammu and Kashmir are considering a ban. Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, who is keen on making Tamil Nadu the number one State, should immediately ban tobacco products,” he said.
