Punjab is looking to increase the permissible minimum age to buy tobacco and tobacco products beyond 18. If implemented, this , -- which will be a first in the country.

A proposal to this effect is likely to be placed before the State Cabinet shortly, Rakesh Gupta, Punjab’s Deputy Director, Health, and Director, Chemical Examiner Lab, told BusinessLine . The move reportedly has the “in- principle” support of State Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu.

A recent consultation in the State involving public health experts, police officials, the State Tobacco Control Cell and the Indian Medical Association (Chandigarh), among others, explored the option of increasing the legal age to buy tobacco and its products beyond 18 years to possibly 21 years.

Permissible minimum age

Gupta pointed out that the legally permissible age for alcohol is 25 years. “We could look beyond 21 to set a similar limit for tobacco and its products as well,” he said. Singapore and the US have upped the age to put tobacco products beyond the reach of young people, he said.

The permissible age in Singapore is 19 years and will be increased to 21 from 2021 and in the US, 29 States have state-wide or local policies with the permissible age at 21, he added. “Delaying the age when young people experiment with tobacco or begin to use it could reduce the risk of them becoming regular users,” he said, adding that tobacco products kill over 13 lakh people in India every year.

Increasing the permissible age to buy tobacco products will complement other efforts, including high taxes and restrictions on advertising, promotion and packaging. Many countriesü already have plain, dull-coloured packs for cigarettes to make them less attractive. India carries pictures of tobacco-related diseases on cigarette packs.

The Union government, too, has been pushing for strong anti-tobacco measures. Last week, a communication from the Union Health Ministry went out to States cautioning them against taking financial or other contributions, or partnering with the tobacco industry. In fact, the communication told States to not partner with the Foundation for a Smoke Free World, in the interest of public health, as it was a tobacco industry-funded initiative. The reference was to the funding the Foundation was receiving from Philip Morris International, world’s largest tobacco company.

Eye in e-cigarettes

The effort to restrict access to tobacco and other nicotine products comes even as a heated debate rages on in public health circles on how India should tackle e-cigarettes. The issue is in court now, and opinion on it is divided, with the Centre keen to ban it while a section of doctors say it should be available as a “less harmful” option, though tightly regulated.

Pointing out that “a less harmful product was not a harmless product”, Gupta cited reports where the product had exploded and injured an user. Punjab was an early mover here too, he said, as it had declared e-cigarettes as unapproved under the Drugs and Cosmetics (D&C) Act in 2013. Other States like Haryana too were taking action against these new-age products, he added.

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