That has to be seen whether the  ban on tobacco productsworks or not.

There seems to be a race to impose bans. It has been demonstrated many times that bans are not effective at all in a corrupt country like ours. I have seen a person known to me who stopped consuming tobacco in Singapore fearing punishment for spitting. But the moment the return flight landed in Mumbai and he was out of customs he spit on a side wall (old airport)' When i pointed to him he replied 'now we are in our country'. There is just no fear of law. Almost all policemen at junctions are themselves constantly chewing tobacco. Creating awareness constantly can help in keeping many away from tobacco products. Banning is only going to make product and bribe go higher.

vijay wrote:

There seems to be a race to impose bans. It has been demonstrated many times that bans are not effective at all in a corrupt country like ours. I have seen a person known to me who stopped consuming tobacco in Singapore fearing punishment for spitting. But the moment the return flight landed in Mumbai and he was out of customs he spit on a side wall (old airport)' When i pointed to him he replied 'now we are in our country'. There is just no fear of law. Almost all policemen at junctions are themselves constantly chewing tobacco. Creating awareness constantly can help in keeping many away from tobacco products. Banning is only going to make product and bribe go higher.

 

True, you must have seen the way they manipulate banned items, see the ad of 8 Pm liquor and in the end they say it was SODA and not whiskey. We always find a way to break the rule before it comes into force.  

The more a thing is banned, the more  people throng around it. This was tried by the authorities and every time failed.

rambabu wrote:

The more a thing is banned, the more  people throng around it. This was tried by the authorities and every time failed.

 

It's not that we should not ban the wrong items but our fault is our government does not know how to force people to follow rules besides we as a nation are too far behind in learning civic sense. Unless people do not cooperate and rules followed strictly we'll always find ways to accuse government and system. After all we are part of the society and should respect the rules. If we can keep our homes clean why not we help in keeping roads and parks clean?  

So, it all points to one thing.

Anything to succeed, governed and governance should join hands. Non chalance in any of the two factors will be an exercise in futility .

Ban cannot be successful in the absence of severe punishments to the violators of law. Fear of law and the apprehension about one’s own future, create awareness and responsibility. People will not follow rules simply because they are good to society. Their concentration is to ensure that it will not affect them personally if they disobey the rules.   

Severe punishments for law offenders is there. But in the cold storage. Where is mandatory Helmet wearing for the two wheeler drivers?

There is purpose behind law on ban.  The state needs to protect the general public against harmful affects of any product like tobacco. As a member pointed out helmet is also prescribed for road safety. I feel there should be distinction between individual interest and society. Cigarette may be harmful to an individual but this is his personal decision.  State needs not unduly pose as guardian and impose ban. But as passive smoking is harmful to non smokers, ban on smoking in public is okay. One may not care for own health but he has no business to spoil others'.  as regards chewing tobacco, it is certainly harmful but others may not be adversely affected as in case of  passive smoking. So chewing tobacco needs not be banned.  But warning in bold letters and in dreadful pictures is right to stress the harm from such consumption.   

For a State to be healthy, the society should be healthy and hence the individuals too. Definitely an individual should have the freedom to decide what he should do. The State also has the freedom to ban unhealthy things that will harm individuals as well as the whole society. Leaving the individuals free to do any unhealthy habits, and ultimately expecting a healthy society constituting the same individuals seems to be contradictory. Warning by horrible pictures and bold messages do have negligible impacts on the people who are addicted to these habits. Awareness should come from within.