CADA hails ban on tobacco products
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, October 25 2024:
Coalition Against Drugs and Alcohol (CADA) has welcomed the recent government order to ban tobacco products and urged the government to effectively enforce the same while assuring its full cooperation.
In a statement, CADA cautioned that Manipur ranks third in consumption of tobacco as per the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) 2016-17 published by the ministry of health and family welfare.
"The report stated that 55.1 per cent of the people of the state use one or another form of tobacco," it stated, while observing that people of the state no longer see tobacco products as intoxicants consequently hindering effort and campaign to prohibit sale and consumption of such products.
The Statement reminded that tobacco products are often regarded as 'gateways to drugs', as they are frequently the first substance people choose in the formative stages of substance abuse.
At the same time, CADA Cautioned against the ban order reduced to mere formality without effective enforcement measures and called for imple-menting the same rigorously to ensure meaningful impact.