Ban on tobacco consumption by legitimate and underground governments just does not work. Assam and Manipur are prime examples. These two north-eastern states and Tripura have bucked the downtrend in India’s tobacco use – from 34.6% in 2009-10 to 28.6% in 2016-17. According to round two of Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS2) for the region, tobacco consumption in Assam has increased from 39.3% to 48.2% in six fiscals since 2009-10. The data is ironical for Assam where the government had passed the Assam Health (Prohibition of Manufacturing Trade, Advertisement, Storage, Distribution, Sale and Consumption of Zarda, Gutkha, Panmasala etc.

Source: Hindustan Times November 26, 2017 11:03 UTC