Nagaon Police launches drive against COTPA violators

Guwahati, October 12, 2018:

The Nagaon police have initiated a drive against people who violate the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003 (COTPA).

The act prohibits smoking in public places, direct/indirect advertising, sale to or by minors, sale within 100 yards of schools and mandates pictorial warnings on all tobacco packs.

Enforcement of COTPA contributes significantly to reduction in tobacco prevalence. Hence the Director General of Police, Assam has ordered the Police force to strictly enforce COTPA. The Police are the main enforcement agency for COTPA.

The objective of this drive is that tobacco use is the biggest reversible cause of death in Assam. In fact, Assam is in the grip of Tobacco epidemic and it is revealed in Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) 2017.

Prior starting the drive, the police officers of different police stations under Nagaon district were imparted training on COPTA.

Tobacco usage in Assam soaring at 48.3% of the adult population has become an epidemic leading to an avalanche of cases of diseases like cancer, cardiovascular problems,  respiratory disease, etc.

Shankar Brata Raimedhi, Superintendent of Police, Nagaon, Assam said, “Tobacco is a curse for the society, so all should join hands in order to control this menace and to improve the quality of life in Assam”.