Punjab bans sale of loose cigarettes and tobacco

The Punjab Health Department has banned the sale of loose cigarettes (as single sticks) and loose tobacco, becoming the first State to do so.

In a notification issued on Tuesday, the State government said the ban had been issued as the sale is in violation of section 7 of the COTPA (Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products, Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution Act, 2003).

Section 7 of COTPA prohibits any trade or commerce in cigarettes or any other tobacco products unless every package of cigarettes or any other tobacco products sold, supplied or distributed carries specified warning including pictorial warning.

Since loose cigarettes are affordable and do not carry a pictorial or a written warning, these will not be permitted to be sold.

Welcoming the move, Bhavna B. Mukhopadhyay, executive director of the Voluntary Health Association of India said with the ban, the Punjab government had demonstrated tremendous commitment towards safeguarding the health of the people.

“This step will go a long way in saving lakhs of lives and also reducing the government spending on treating tobacco-related diseases. The Government of India should also completely ban the sale of loose cigarettes in larger interest of younger generation falling prey to this tobacco menace and suffering premature death,” she said.

In November, Health Minister J.P. Nadda informed Parliament that the Ministry had accepted the recommendations of the expert panel on COTPA amendments that prohibit the sale of loose cigarettes and raise the minimum legal age for sale of tobacco products. The panel proposed to raise the minimum age for buying cigarettes and other tobacco products from 18 to 21, increasing the fine or penalty amounts for violation of certain provisions of COTPA, as well as making such offences cognisable and further informed that a draft note for the Cabinet had been circulated.