Raise the minimum smoking age to 21 to reduce tobacco use

An Indian study finds that countries are increasingly recognizing that a majority of people who become long-term tobacco users begin the practice as teenagers or young adults.

Taking measures to limit access to tobacco for adolescents and young adults therefore makes perfect sense. The report also calls for the banning of designated smoking areas in public places and the prohibition of tobacco industry sponsorship.

A study by the National Law School of India University (NLSIU)

In this study, titled Tobacco Control Laws in India: Origins and Proposed Reforms, Professor Ashok R Patil of NSLIU recommends, among other things, that the Ministry of Health raise the legal age for tobacco consumption and purchase in India from 18 to 21 years, while taking a number of other measures that go along with this ban.

This landmark measure is already in place in many countries. Indeed, Professor Ashok R. Patil points out that "no fewer than 14 countries—Ethiopia, Guam, Honduras, Japan, Kuwait, Mongolia, Palau, the Philippines, Samoa, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the United States, and Uganda—have now raised the minimum legal age to 21."

Other recommendations of the study

Other recommendations specified in the report include banning designated smoking areas in public places; banning all advertising at points of sale; banning all tobacco industry sponsorship (including for corporate social responsibility activities); banning the sale of "single" cigarettes, loose tobacco or smaller packs, etc.

Dr. Vishal Rao, an oncologist and member of the Karnataka Tobacco Control Committee (a state in southwest India), said tobacco products should be made inaccessible to save Indians from a "life of misery and suffering."