Odisha government on Wednesday notified sweeping new rules imposing a complete ban on the manufacture, processing, packaging, storage, transportation, distribution and sale of all products containing tobacco or nicotine, significantly tightening its existing restrictions on smokeless tobacco.
The ban covers all chewable and non-chewable products that are flavoured, scented or mixed with additives, regardless of how they are marketed or sold. This includes products sold under any name or form–such as gutka, pan masala and other flavoured or scented chewable items–whether packaged or unpackaged, according to a report by ToI’s Hemanta Pradhan.
According to the notification, as accessed by ToI, the prohibition also applies to products marketed as a single item or sold in separate packets designed to be mixed by consumers, as well as any food products containing tobacco and/or nicotine, irrespective of the name under which they are sold.
The latest notification supersedes an earlier order issued by the health and family welfare department on January 3, 2013. Explaining the rationale, the notification states: “Several products with various names containing tobacco and nicotine are widely available in the market and consumption of such products is hazardous to the health of the public.”
The government flagged serious public health concerns arising from the widespread use of smokeless tobacco mixed with pan masala, betel leaf, areca nut and slaked lime, noting that such consumption is particularly harmful for children and young adults.
Citing the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) under the World Health Organization, the notification said chewing tobacco products such as zarda, khaini, gutka and processed, scented or flavoured tobacco are classified as cancer-causing. It added that these products can lead to dependence, severe oral health impairment and are linked to cancers of the mouth, oesophagus, stomach, pancreas, throat (pharynx and larynx) and kidney.
The move comes against the backdrop of high smokeless tobacco use in the state. As per the second round of the Global Adult Tobacco Survey, more than 42% of Odisha’s adult population uses smokeless tobacco, nearly double the national average.
“It has included all oral tobacco products of any form being manufactured, sold, hoarded or consumed by people. It is reinforced by Supreme Court resolutions cited with more legal implications,” a department official told ToI.
