Goemkarponn Desk
PANAJI: NOTE National President Dr Shekhar Salkar today said that government of India indicates that 17 % of 13 –15-year-old students in Goa exposed to tobacco inside enclosed public places which is matter of concern.
“Nearly one-fifth of the students aged 13-15 used any form of the tobacco product (smoking, smokeless, and any other form) in their life in India. It’s critical to make sure we strengthen our laws and penalty provisions to deter tobacco companies from selling and advertising of their addictive products to our children and youth” said Dr.Salkar
Chairman of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, representatives from retailers’ association, global & local experts came together for a discussion organized by National Law School of India University on how national tobacco control law can be strengthened to protect youth from taking up tobacco use.
All of these experts agreed that increasing legal age of sale of tobacco products to 21 years, adopting comprehensive ban on tobacco advertisement & promotion and banning sale of single sticks of cigarettes/bidis, would go a long way to prevent children and youth from initiating tobacco use at an early age.
“Tobacco companies have been exploiting loopholes in the law to target impressionable minds of children and youth through their marketing tactics. It is critical to strengthen the law by removing all exemptions allowing point of sale advertisements and sale of single cigarettes/bidis to prevent them from endangering the lives of our young generation,” said Ashim Sanyal, Chief Operating Officer, CONSUMER VOICE.
