We have heard the arguments both for and against the tobacco bill, or more specifically the ban on the sale of tobacco.
The tobacco story had a long bumpy ride, beginning with 2004 December, when the then parliament, supposedly after public request, decided to ban sales of tobacco in the country.
Bhutan gained international headlines that year, becoming the first country to ban the sale of tobacco.
The debate kindled in the media, with criticism on the poor implementation of the ban and the birth of numerous small black market operators who sought to take advantage of the lack of legislation and the quick money that came with supplying users expensive tobacco products discreetly.
The Health Ministry, and the department of trade defended the ban, the former saying that removing products from the shelves and effectively labeling it as an ‘illegal’ product to some extent established the reputation of use of tobacco products as bad, and the latter justifying that implementation was greatly hampered by the lack of legal teeth.
The year 2009 saw some progress on the front, with a bill being tabled, discussed and endorsed by the two houses of the parliament. The debates however, did not end here. In the summer session of the parliament in 2009, much to the glee of newsmongers, the National Council decided that the ban did not make sense, and decided that while there should be a ban on the use of tobacco in public places, sales could continue with larger taxes.
This move makes sense in that the small dealers would then be legally doing what they would continue to do anyways illegally, and like a prominent figure said, “Why make criminals out of our people”. Moreover, this money would then go to the government, where it could be used perhaps to carry out campaigns against use of tobacco.
But the counter argument to this would be that perhaps the best anti smoking campaign would be the banning of tobacco products itself. This would label the products as ‘bad’, and eventually result in the general view that use of tobacco reflects poor personality.
This opinion can be further encouraged. An interesting take on the issue is to encourage the view that smoking reflects poor self restraint, and is therefore, ‘uncool’.
The growing numbers of gyms in the country and the proportional growth of users, add to that the increasing numbers of people taking to the streets in the mornings and evenings for a walk to benefit their health, indicates a healthy trend in the Bhutanese society to be more ‘fit’.
To encourage the opinion that smoking and chewing tobacco reflects poor self restraint, more must be done in general to encourage the people to take up a healthy lifestyle and view it as the ‘right’ and ‘in’ thing to do.
The tobacco debate, atleast regarding the ban on sales, seem to have been resolved, and the decision in the end is that the ban must stay. While the debate was good, we must make peace with this decision and see how it works.
Meanwhile, there is also a need to look further into other health related policies. Alcohol, for instance, deserves to be given a bad name, too. So does doma. Not that we go on a banning spree, but looking at policies to discourage users would be good.
Some countries are looking into making healthier food options cheaper than their unhealthy versions, so that people are encouraged to eat healthy, and also it make it possible for the poorer sections of the society to get the necessary nutrient requirement from their food.
