Chief minister J Jayalalithaa announced the ban on May 8 in the assembly, but as it had not come into effect immediately, no action was initiated against violators. The government order prohibiting their manufacture, transporation, stocking and sale in the state came on Wednesday. On Thursday, TOI found the sale of gutka and paan masala thriving across the city.
A regular gutka buyer in Teynampet said, “I don’t think there will be a decrease in the sale of these tobacco products. Customers continue to buy them as they are addictive. The ban will only increase their price. A vendor in Mylapore said gutka was out of stock, but for regular customers he sources it from a supplier. In the wake of the ban, vendors in most localities have stopped displaying these products on the counter, but they suddenly materialize when requested.
Sources in the food safety department said they had not seized or destroyed any packet of gutka or paan masala in the city after the ban came into effect. “We will give a month to the manufactures to stop production. But storage, distribution and sale will be banned immediately. We will start raids from Thursday onwards,” said afood safety official.
With the theme for this year’s World No Tobacco Day being ‘ban tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship’, medical expe-rts feel that this may be an opportunity for stakeholders to bring strong advocacies on the policy front.
“Implementing the ban in every possible way would help reduce preventable deaths due to tobacco. Instead of merely banning advertising of tobacco, the state should take up campaigns that portrayed the dangers of it,” said Dr T Raja of Apollo Specialty Hospital.
BAN AND THE BUSINESS: Despite a ban, gutka is being sold in stalls across the city on the eve of World No Tobacco Day
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