The federal government has decided to launch crackdown against the shopkeepers selling cigarette packets without any printed warning. "The sale of non-printed cigarette packets is an unlawful activity. This is also a crime and the law violators will be punished according to the Anti-smoking Act," Dr Najeeb, Health Education Adviser said in an exclusive talk with Business Recorder here on Wednesday.
Following the plan, the government has launched mass awareness campaign through print and electronic media across the country to warn all the wholesalers and shopkeepers not to sell cigarettes without official warning of the Health Ministry.
"The shopkeepers and wholesalers would be jailed for two years with a fine of Rs 10,000 to Rs 100,000 annually if caught selling cigarettes without Health Ministry's warning," he said.
He added that the sale licence of shopkeepers would be cancelled and the police would be authorised to arrest them.
Najeeb said that after the approval of Anti-smoking Bill from the National Assembly, the government was struggling hard to implement and force the masses to follow the law. "Unfortunately we couldn't get good results in this context. This is directly a deal with the masses and no one can force to stop smoking," he said.
Awareness is the key to educate the people and to make them aware of the drawbacks of this menace, he said, adding that education is the only way to guide the youths to quit smoking.
He said that the smokers would also be punished if they were caught red-handed in public place, transport or in office.
"Time is required to change the attitude of the public through awareness and education," he said.
To a question, he said that it is very much difficult for the government to eradicate this menace, but the participation of masses and media could make the difference.