Although the law has set specific fines and penalties for selling tobacco, including cigarettes, to children, these laws have not been properly implemented and have not been the necessary deterrent.
According to the reportSpecialized Association for Children and MediaAccording to the news agencyana!Entrusting children and adolescents with abnormal and risky tasks usually comes from parents who do not take the sensitivity of raising and nurturing their child seriously and expose them to all kinds of harm, including tobacco.
Sending children and adolescents to buy cigarettes, tobacco, or any other tobacco product is one of the things that their parents do, making smoking seem normal and ignoring the effects of this destructive behavior on the child. They may not even notice.
The need for advertising and planning to legally ban the sale of tobacco!
Mohammad Hossein Sheikh, a social worker and addiction therapist, said in an interview with a reporter from the Culture and Society Department of the Science and Technology News Agency of Iran (ANA): “In Tehran and major cities, the law prohibiting the sale of tobacco and tobacco products to people under the age of 18 is not being properly implemented.” It’s not possible.
He stated: “Over the past few years, some street-level stalls and kiosks and many supermarkets, in addition to selling and supplying cigarettes, charcoal, tobacco, and other drug paraphernalia, have also been selling some of the essentials for drug use, such as paper for smoking flowers and Hashish is also sold, and unfortunately, there is not enough supervision in this area to deal with these violators.
The social worker noted: “The sale of electronic cigarettes, which are considered tobacco products, is easily done to any applicant, whether they are children, adolescents, or other individuals, and this issue is very widespread and regrettable.”
Sheikh added: “The factors that make people interested in cigarettes and then other drugs include many different factors, and the role of heredity, meaning the smoking of a grandfather, father, brother, mother, or any member of the child’s or teenager’s family who encourages smoking, plays a role.” They make it seem normal and sometimes even try to use drugs in front of their children and adolescents. This is one of the most important reasons why children and adolescents tend to smoke or become addicted.
He emphasized: “The neighborhood and society in which children and adolescents live, the availability of tobacco products such as cigarettes, and the lack of supervision over their sale to children and adolescents are other factors that increase the likelihood of a child becoming a smoker.”
This social worker clarified: According to the law, some organizations, such as the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, the Iranian Broadcasting Organization, the Islamic Propaganda Organization, etc., have a special budget line for advertising on issues such as taxes on smoking, hookahs, etc., or advertising. There is a law prohibiting the sale of cigarettes to children, but unfortunately, constructive, effective, and ongoing advertising in this regard is not produced and broadcast by the Iranian Broadcasting Corporation, and in a few cases, even those programs are made on an occasional basis and then forgotten again.
Sheikh added: “Planning, creating culture, and keeping children and adolescents away from the harm that buying and using cigarettes causes them are among the duties of the agencies that must plan for its implementation.”
He noted: “According to officials, unfortunately, the average smoking rate among people in our country has dropped to under 14 years old, and controlling this harm requires taking special measures.”
The social worker emphasized: “It is true that the law has set a fine of between 8 and 18 million Tomans for selling cigarettes to children, but unfortunately, the monitoring to implement this law has not been sufficient at all.”
Sheikh stated: “The addiction and tendency to use drugs of many people is a result of the same cigarettes that they used long before their addiction, and we should not ignore the fact that cigarettes are the gateway to drugs.”
A punishment that is not sufficiently deterrent
Sohrab Salimzadeh, a lawyer at a court, also stated in an interview with a reporter from the Culture and Society Department of the Science and Technology News Agency of Anna: According to Article 12 of the Comprehensive Law on National Tobacco Control and Combat, selling or supplying cigarettes to people under the age of 18 or through these people is prohibited. Denied
He clarified: In case of selling cigarettes to children and adolescents under the age of 18, in addition to confiscating the tobacco products discovered with the violator, he will be sentenced to a fine of 10,000 tomans to 50,000 tomans. Repeated or multiple violations will result in a fine of 1 million tomans. It will be a violation.
This attorney general of a judiciary noted: “Current crimes do not provide sufficient deterrence, and the legislature must take steps to amend and tighten these laws, which, of course, are not being implemented properly.”
The need to increase tobacco-related fines!
About 2 months ago, the head of the Secretariat of the National Tobacco Control Headquarters of the Ministry of Health, Treatment and Medical Education said about crimes related to the Comprehensive Tobacco Control Law: The current law was approved by the Islamic Consultative Assembly in 2019. They need to be updated.
He added: “The penalties currently imposed for supplying and selling cigarettes to children and adolescents under the age of 18 should be increased so that they provide the necessary deterrence.”
The consequences of selling cigarettes to children and the availability of various tobacco products are not good or pleasant, and neglecting this important issue has led to a lowering of the smoking age in the country.
Coordination and integrated actions by responsible agencies and adequate supervision to implement the law banning the sale of cigarettes to children can, to a large extent, reduce the negative consequences of this social harm.
In addition to combating the supply of cigarettes to children and people under the age of 18, the issue of combating the sale of cigarettes in places such as supermarkets should also be placed more seriously on the agenda of law enforcement, and the punishment of violators should be sufficiently deterrent to make it possible and Minimize the likelihood of others doing it.