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Indian Ban On Tobacco Advertisements

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INDIAN BAN ON TOBACCO ADVERTS

IN FAVOUR

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), tobacco accounted for over 3 million deaths in 1990, the figure rising to 4.023 million in 1998.

It is estimated that tobacco related deaths would rise to 8.4 million in 2020 and to 10 million in about 2030. Internal industry documents released in the United States, described 14 – 24 year olds as “tomorrow’s business”.

However, a study on tobacco consumption and employment, showed that effective policies to reduce smoking were likely to increase, and not decrease employment. The reason for this was that when people stopped smoking, the money did not disappear from the economy. It was spent on other goods and services, which showed, were more labor intensive. This in turn produced more jobs.

On February 6th, 2001 the Government of India (GOI) announced that it would in a short time table a bill banning Tobacco Companies from advertising their products and sponsoring sports and cultural events. The objective of such a ban was to discourage adolescents from consuming tobacco products and also arm the government with powers to launch an anti-Tobacco Program.

In view of the aforementioned, a study by the WHO concluded that, ‘the ban was not unusual keeping in view the international precedents’. Countries like France, Finland, and Norway had already imposed similar bans.

In 1981, the Supreme Court (of Appeal) in Belgium ruled that the ban on tobacco advertising was not

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