Mother’s across the Assam submitted memorandum to PM and demanded to strengthen tobacco control law
GUWAHATI, Rongili Barta- On the occasion of Mother’s Day, hundreds of Mother across the Assam appeals Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi to strengthen tobacco control law for saving young generation from tobacco addiction. Consumers’ Legal Protection Forum (CLPF), Assam takes this initiative and submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister of India by involving the Mother’s from different parts of the State. The campaign was organized simultaneously in major cities of the state today. Hundreds of Mother participated in the campaign and requested to Prime Minister to consider the immediate introduction of a strong tobacco control law in the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament in the interest of public health. Mother’s said – we need law that will protect our children to live in smoke-free lives. This will give some relief to mothers like us who always worried about their kids. we strongly support a strong tobacco control law, such as Banning Designated Smoking areas, Banning all kind of advertising including at point of sale, Banning sale of single stick of cigarettes, Increasing legal age for smoking from 18 to 21 years. These will save our children from becoming tobacco addicts and save their lives. As you are aware the use of tobacco is a very high risk factor for 6 to 8 leading causes of death and almost 40% of the Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) including cancers, cardio-vascular diseases and lung disorders are attributable to tobacco use. We being a mother always worried about my kids. As a mother, this is particularly distressing for us. When it comes to harmful tobacco use, sometimes parent’s best efforts are not enough to stop .Kids know about the dangers of tobacco but they are still being influenced by tobacco advertising in shops, surrogate advertising and exposure to designate smoking areas in restaurants, cafe or airports. Peer pressure or the glamorization of smoking in the OTT media are also there. Advocate Ajoy Hazarika, Secretary, Consumers’ Legal Protection Forum, Assam said, as per recent Global Youth Tobacco Survey released by Hon Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, nearly one-fifth of students aged 13-15 years are using tobacco products in India. The nationwide survey of students revealed that 38 percent of cigarettes, 47 percent of bidi and 52 percent of smokeless tobacco users picked up the habit before their 10th birthday