Curbs on cigarettes sale ‘ineffective’ in Islamabad

Ban on detrimental products was enforced for a short time by the past regimes & then abandoned due to vested interest

ISLAMABAD: Authorities have failed to implement the ban on the sale of loose and smuggled cigarettes and sale of tobacco products to underage youth introduced by the policy makers to reduce smoking habit among citizens.

The ban on detrimental products was enforced for a short time by the past regimes and then abandoned due to vested interests.

Concerned citizens have urged the administrations of Islamabad and Rawalpindi to execute ban on the prohibited items, through strict implementation of the rules and regulations.

Senior lawyer Hafiz Khurram Khalid, while talking to the media, said the government had outlawed the sale of loose cigarettes across the country in 2018 keeping in view the move's high success rate in western countries and some regional states like Nepal.

The consumption of tobacco in public places, the sale of cigarettes to the underage youth, and the distribution, sale and storage of tobacco products within a 50-metre radius of educational institutions were banned under the Prohibition of Smoking and Protection of Non-smokers Health Ordinance, 2002, he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 20^th, 2019.