Ban on tobacco sale near schools goes up in smoke
Chennai: At least two outlets near every city school illegally sell tobacco products, grossly violating state laws that prohibit such sales within 100 yards of educational institutions, a multi-country study has revealed.
While alcohol access is limited, small groceries and convenience stores near schools continue to sell tobacco products, it found.
The representative sample study, conducted in Bangladesh, India (Delhi and Chennai), Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, was published in the May edition of scientific journal BMC Medicine. It showed non-compliance with tobacco and alcohol zoning regulations around schools. While most surveyed locations showed a higher percentage of non-compliant alcohol outlets, in Chennai, tobacco is more easily accessible near school zones.
Scientists found 1,650 outlets near 247 randomly selected schools across the city. Out of these, 392 outlets selling tobacco were within 100 yards of a school. In Tamil Nadu, the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act 2003 prohibits the sale of cigarettes or other tobacco products within a 100-yard radius of any educational institution.
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Additionally, Tamil Nadu has banned the manufacture, storage, and sale of chewable tobacco such as gutka and pan masala.
"Easy access to tobacco near schools increases the likelihood of experimentation and early initiation of tobacco use, which can lead to severe nicotine addiction. Studies have shown proximity normalises tobacco, making it appear less harmful and more socially acceptable," said Dr Anjana Mohan, one of the study's senior authors.
The authors called on govts to strictly enforce existing zoning regulations to restrict access to tobacco and alcohol for young people.
Among the non-compliant 392 shops, 241 (61.4%) were small grocery/corner convenience stores, 109 (24.8%) were food stalls or stationary carts, and 35 (8.9%) were mobile carts. The remaining outlets included one supermarket, one public market, one temporary store, and two each in specialty food retailers and restaurants.
There were 176 non-compliant shops around 86 primary schools, 193 non-compliant shops around 129 secondary schools, and 67 non-compliant shops around 32 colleges/universities, said the study's co-author Rajendra Pradeepa from Madras Diabetes Research Foundation.
Scientists observed fewer outlets violating rules for alcohol sales. Among the 247 schools in the city, there were a dozen non-compliant shops selling alcohol.
This includes five outlets near primary schools, six near secondary schools, and four near colleges/universities. Though sale of alcohol is mandated only from Tasmac outlets and licensed bars/hotels, researchers spotted alcohol sales on stationary food carts and at small grocery stores.
Out of the 12 non-compliant outlets, five were food stalls or stationary carts, six were small grocery or convenience stores, and one was a restaurant.
Violations were more rampant in Delhi, where there were at least three shops violating tobacco norms around every educational institution. Zoning regulations varied by country. While Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, which have banned outlets within a 100-metre zone from selling tobacco, violations were identified in five shops and three shops around each school respectively, Pakistan, with a 50-metre restriction, had fewer than one shop per school within its buffer zone.
According to experts, tobacco accessibility undermines prevention efforts, contributes to long-term health problems like respiratory illnesses and cancers, and can even act as a gateway to abuse of other substances, jeopardising overall well-being. These effects are also reflected in data from Madras Metropolitan Tumour Registry, the city's cancer registry. The crude incidence rate of oral cancer among men in the 20-39 age group increased to 9.7 per 1,00,000 in 2014-18 compared to 3.5 per 1,00,000 in 2004-2008.
Among women in the same age group, cancer cases increased marginally to 1.1 per lakh from 0.8 during the same time.
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