Nicotine addiction: Govt urged to regulate smokeless tobacco

According to the survey, approximately 3.6 million people uses smokeless tobacco products.

PESHAWAR: Representatives of a non-governmental organisation (NGO) have urged the government to pass legislation imposing special taxes on smokeless tobacco products. Speaking at a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club, Executive Director of Sustainable Development Vision (SDV) Ziafat Zaman said an absence of laws placing controls on the consumption of these products was resulting in increased usage. He said a survey conducted by SDV in four districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) revealed alarming levels of consumption. According to the survey, approximately 3.6 million people – of which 17.1% were between the ages of 10 and 15, 38.5% between the ages of 15 and 25, and 5.2% between 25 and 45 – used smokeless tobacco products. SDV Program Coordinator Asifa Hameed, Assistant Manager Ambreen Khan and Idrees Kamal from the Civil Society Network were also present at the occasion.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 1^st, 2013.