Experts call for zero tolerance of COTPA breaches as open sale continues near schools
Srinagar, August 3: Smoking is often seen as an entry point to substance usage.
Despite laws prohibiting tobacco sales within a 100-meter radius of schools in Kashmir, vendors continue to sell cigarettes to youngsters in the areas around these facilities.
The Department of Food Safety in J&K is responsible for enforcing the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA)-2003, and its commissioner, Shakeel-ur-Rehman, recently told Greater Kashmir that the agency is working towards a policy of “zero tolerance” for the sale of tobacco products to minors.
According to him, 73 schools were checked during the current fiscal year.
According to Rehman, 635 schools were examined for possible violations of COTPA 2003 in FY2022-23.
Interestingly, the department’s data shows that none of the 73 evaluated schools had a tobacco retail location within close proximity to the campus.
Since March of this year, there have been no charges filed and no fines levied as a result.
Global Youth Tobacco Survey: A Report from Jammu and Kashmir, which analysed teen smoking habits, was released back in 2008. Out of more than 2600 students surveyed, an astounding 22.4% reported having tried smoking for the first time.
Even back then, studies found that more teenagers in Jammu and Kashmir smoked than in any of the surrounding states.
Tobacco Consumption among Adolescents Attending Schools in District Srinagar, Kashmir, a research published in the International Journal of Science and Research, provides the most recent available estimate of teen smoking in Kashmir. It reports that 23% of the teens surveyed were found to be smokers. In addition, the research found that 18 percent of the people polled started smoking between the ages of 14 and 15, when they were still considered young teenagers.
Early adolescent nicotine exposure increases the acquisition and intake of nicotine, alcohol, cocaine, and methamphetamine; co-use of nicotine and alcohol; and the rewarding effects of nicotine, cocaine, methamphetamine, and opioids, according to the study “Nicotine Gateway Effects on Adolescent Substance Use,” published in the Western Journal of Emergency Medicine.
Adolescence is a time of fast brain development, and this review highlights the developing idea that nicotine hijacks the brain’s reward circuit by producing long-term alterations in brain chemistry and function.
However, teen cigarette use and the rising popularity of electronic cigarettes does not raise eyebrows since it is the ‘norm. There is no stigma attached to selling cigarettes near schools or to children in Kashmir or the rest of India. Public smoking was outlawed in 2003 with the passage of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA). Tobacco products may not be sold within 1,000 feet of a school under federal law. To ensure that smokers are exposed to the graphic health warnings that have been required to appear on cigarette packages, it is illegal to sell cigarettes individually. Although the selling of loose cigarettes is not as common as it once was, it is still rather common and popular, especially among the younger demographic who often purchase in smaller amounts due to cost or other factors.
