Times of India
31 May 2011
By Karthikeyan Hemalatha

Activists Say The Ban Is Ineffective And Hasn’t Addressed The Real Issue
Public health authorities in Tamil Nadu take pride in being one of the toppers in the country in collecting fine from people smoking in public places, but that has not prevented the ban from going up in smoke. Smokers puff away on the road, at bus stops and at just any public place. The Rs–200 fine a few are forced to pay has not had a deterrent effect.

"We have collected over Rs 47 lakh from the time of implementation in 2008 as fines from around 48,000 people which is better than any other state in the country," says director of public health Dr R T Porkai Pandian. However, anti–tobacco activists say that the ban has been ineffective in the state and hasn’t addressed the real issue. "Tamil Nadu is the leading state not because it has done well, but because other states have miserably failed," says R Vijaya Bharathy, founder of Can–Stop, a non–governmental organisation that focuses on preventing people from taking up the habit rather than getting people to quit smoking.

Reports say around 50% of the state’s population of 7.2 crore are smokers. Doctors feel ban is not a solution, and the Rs 14–lakh fine collected from Chennai last year was not much compared to the number of people smoking in public.

"The ban on smoking has not been effective at all. There has to be stricter regulations on the sale of cigarettes. It makes more sense to make sales more difficult. Our enforcement capabilities are not good enough to curb such a large–scale campaign," says K Madhu, a pulmonologist. The government has to understand that the revenue collected from tobacco products is surpassed by the cost of treatment for various tobacco related ailments, he adds.

Smokers say the ban has not curbed their habits. "Yes, in restaurants and theatres, the ban is well implemented, but on public roads, I don’t have any fear of being caught smoking," says a college student and a regular smoker. Observers feel that increasing the price of tobacco will reduce consumption to an extent. "The price hike should really hit the consumer. A marginal increase of Rs 5 or 6 doesn’t make the consumer think twice," says Vijaya from Can–Stop. According to a study in 2005 by a few doctors in Chennai, Over 40% of children between the age of 13 and 15 pick up the habit of smoking. The study also shows that over 85% of the children bought the cigarette themselves. Doctors say this is an alarming trend and there has to be system in place to penalise shopkeepers selling tobacco to minors.

The Ash Effect Tamil Nadu
47 lakh from 48,000 people Chennai
15.76 lakh from 13,245 people 10 lakh deaths per year in India, says health ministry