Anti-tobacco drive on in Bokaro, 365 shops raided in 1 yr

Bokaro: To curb sale and consumption of tobacco under COPTA Act, 2003, the enforcement teams raided 365 shops and collected Rs 60,000 as fine in the past one year. The team also slapped fine on persons caught consuming tobacco in public. The team flagged off a chariot to generate awareness among the masses on the ill effects of tobacco.
Nodal officer of COPTA enforcement, N P Singh, said, “At present, 59.7% male and 17% female consume tobacco with an overall average of 38.9% adults. Around 22.5% of the adults are exposed to unintentional smoking in public places, while 26.6% consume khaini and gutkha 10.6%.”
District consultant for tobacco control, Mohammad Aslam said the WHO has claimed that more than 600,000,000 trees have been cut for the manufacture of tobacco products.