Law amendment should be of high priority; Says Lawyer’s Association Meeting, Though tobacco control law was passed for promoting public health, its implementation has not reached satisfactory level. The law should be amended as a priority task for saving people from direct and passive smoking. Speakers stressed these issues at a meeting jointly organized by WBB Trust, Protyasha Anti-Drugs Club and Dhaka District Lawyer’s Association on 16 July, 2012 at 3.00 PM at conference hall of Lawyers Association. The function was moderated by Adv. Shohana Tahmina while Director of WBB Trust Syed Mahbubul Alam was in the chair. Mohammad Ali Hossain, General Secretary of Dhaka District Lawyer’s Association, senior lawyer Mohammad Hanif, and Dr. Jasim Uddin Khan, Civil Surgeon and member secretary of Dhaka District Taskforce addressed in the meeting as guest speakers.

They said lawyers can play viable role in law implementation and its amendment as they supported and contributed a lot in law implementation in previous years. They played their role in making smoke-free Bar Council, giving government recommendations for law upgrading, declaring bar council smoke-free, participation in taskforce meeting, keeping public places and public transports smoke-free, and assisting enforcers for law implementation, petition for tobacco farming ban, as well as filing writ in Supreme Court etc., they added.

Speakers said, tobacco companies are conducting many campaigns to magnetize youth for smoking. In order to address the issue, law should immediately be amended to strictly ban tobacco advertisements, ensure 100% smoke-free places and pictorial health warning on tobacco packs.

On appreciating the necessity of pictorials, speakers said though companies in developed countries are inducing pictorials, they are not having pictorials in Bangladesh. Pictorials are to be initiated on tobacco packs to make mass people aware of tobacco impacts.

They said national development largely depends on food security of a country. But instead tobacco farming is spreading in our country and making acute food crisis; a must to be addressed in future. Entire environment (soil, water, and air) is affected by tobacco farming. Nothing can be so important than people’s life. High taxation on tobacco products (Zarda, gul, low price cigarettes etc.) is to be set off for lives.

Speakers also said tobacco companies are prompting mass tobacco use by law violation. But law enforcing against them is not as strong as required. Companies get scope for market promotion of these deadly products for indifference about tobacco company activities and in some cases flexible policy formation. Such scopes should be stopped through law amendment.