Kohima orders ban on all tobacco products–for a day

The “tobacco-free city” of Kohima town is affecting an administrative mechanism to curb tobacco in the capital–at least for a specific day. The district’s administration has ordered total ban on the sale of tobacco products in the town on May 31. The date is also World No Tobacco Day.

The deputy commissioner of the district, Rovilatuo Mor, issued an official notification this week stating ‘total ban on sale of tobacco products’ in the town on said day. The notification did not specify the products.

The administration has ‘requested’ all the shopkeepers in the capital town that are selling tobacco products, to abide by the order. Defaulters will be ‘fined as per the law,’ it stated.

To those who came in late, World No Tobacco Day is observed around the world every year on May 31. It is intended to encourage a 24-hour period of abstinence from all forms of tobacco consumption around the globe.

The day is further intended to draw attention to the widespread prevalence of tobacco use and to negative health effects, which currently lead to nearly 6 million deaths each year worldwide, including 600,000 of which is the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke.

The member states of the World Health Organization created World No Tobacco Day in 1987. In the past twenty years, the day has been met with both enthusiasm and resistance around the globe from governments, public health organizations, smokers, growers, and the tobacco industry. (Info: Wikipedia)

The establishment of Kohima’s deputy commissioner also notified that a number of sections in the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) of 2003 will be implemented in Kohima district with immediate effect. The sections as decreed by the administration are:

Section 4: Prohibition of smoking in public places

Section 5:

(a) Prohibition of advertisement of cigarettes or other tobacco products to a person below the age of 18 years.

(b) Prohibition on sale of tobacco products in an area within a radius of 100 yards of an educational institution

Section 7: Restriction on trade and commerce in production, supply and distribution of cigarettes and other tobacco products.

The administration has directed shopkeepers to strictly abide by section 6 of the COTPA. Defaulters have been warned that they would be penalized.

The notification was issued in exercise of the power conferred by section-21, section-24 and section-25 of the cigarettes and other tobacco products (prohibition of advertisement and regulation of the trade and commerce, production, supply and distribution) Act and for effective implementation of section-4, section-5, section-6 and section-7 of the COTPA of 2003.

(Al Ngullie)

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