Violators of anti-smoking law arrested and fined in three cities

ISLAMABAD: Four people were arrested in Mardan and three in Peshawar for violating the anti-smoking law. In Lahore, 37 people were fined for their violations of the law.

“This is the very first time that violators were punished according to the Anti-Smoking Ordinance 2002 since it was promulgated,” Director-General Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Yusuf Khan informed The Express Tribune.

He said some people in Mardan were hand cuffed under section 5 of the ordinance, which states that smoking is banned in public places, and were fined Rs100 each. They were arrested while smoking inside their shops.

In Lahore and Peshawar, the violators were issued “challans” under section 8 of the ordinance, which states that no person is permitted to sell cigarettes or any other smoking substance to anyone who is below the age of 18 years. They are also required to place “no-smoking” signboards in their shops.

According to Khan, the only thing lacking in the almost decade-old law was effective implementation and strict enforcement.

He said this was just the beginning as “soon people will be arrested and fined in other cities of the country too.”

“I hope people will obey anti-smoking laws to avoid being arrested or penalised just like the way people started wearing seat-belts in the capital for fear of being fined,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 26^th, 2011.