Oncologists hail stricter penalty for tobacco sellers in new JJ Act

Cancer specialists have lauded a provision in the Juvenile Justice Act 2015, under which the penalty for shopkeepers selling tobacco products to those below 18 years of age has been increased to Rs 1 lakh from a paltry Rs 200, besides imprisonment of up to seven years.

“The average age of initiating tobacco consumption among minors is 17 years. If you save a child from initiating tobacco in this age, the chances of his falling in tobacco net are minimal,” said Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi, professor and surgeon, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai. 

Accrording to Section 77 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, if a person gives or helps a child get intoxicating products like liquor or narcotic or tobacco products – unless prescribed by a doctor – shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment of up to seven years and shall also be liable to pay Rs 1-lakh fine. 

“The earlier law, Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act 2003, miserably failed to check the sale of tobacco products to minors as the fine was only Rs 200. But with this Act, India has become the only country across the world to impose such a harsh penalty for tobacco selling to and by minors,” he added. 

He said according to the Global Youth Tobacco survey, the average age for the initiation of tobacco habits among people in India is 17 years. 

“According to the Global Youth Tobacco survey, around 20 per cent youths in India are tobacco users and over 5,500 consume tobacco daily. It is proven beyond doubt that tobacco kills every third user prematurely through cancer, heart disease, stroke, etc,” added Chaturvedi. He also cautioned the enforcement agencies to be vigilant as tobacco producing companies are innovating on the lines of ‘catch them young’ and projecting tobacco products as synonymous with adulthood, modernity, affluence, social class norm and elegance.

Sanjay Seth, COO of the Voice of Tobacco Victims campaign, emphasised on the need to conduct sting operations to apprehend the offenders. 

“Rich countries, where the legal system permits, have adopted the method of ‘sting operations’ to catch offenders. In India, most kiosks selling tobacco and related products do not even put on dispaly a warning – banning tobacco sale to minors and depicting a photo of a patient with mouth cancer – as required by the law,” said Seth, expressing concern on the poor prosecution of offenders across the country.