Tobacco.org

• Contraband quandary 

Customs officials in Phuentsholing are in a dilemma. They have successfully confiscated tobacco products worth over one million ngultrums since 2007, but they don't know what to do with the stockpiled contraband in their store.

"We can't burn, dump or sell the tobacco to where it came from," said a customs official. "How long can we go on storing them?" he wondered.

Seized goods in the past were burnt, but after they came under environment scrutiny, they started their storage.

"Selling it back would be against world health organisation (WHO) principles, as we are also a WHO member," said an official from the health ministry.

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• Lights Out for Smokers in Himalayan Kingdom 

While it's still legal to smoke here, the only legal way to acquire a cigarette is to bring in a carton -- the maximum allowed -- overland from neighboring India or on one of the two planes of Druk Air, Bhutan's national airline. People bringing in cigarettes pay duties and taxes equal to 200% of the price.

The three-year-old ban is one of many policies stemming from Bhutan's concept of Gross National Happiness, which aims to keep people happy by protecting the environment and upholding cultural traditions. But the government also had more tangible reasons for the ban: Bhutan provides universal health care, and the burden of treating tobacco-related disease is something it says it can't afford. "Without smoking, the cost of health care would be tremendously lower," says Dorji Wangchuk, director-general for medical services at Bhutan's Ministry of Health.

The move could make Bhutan a laboratory to test whether legislation banning cigarette sales will help people kick the habit.

Yet, as a laboratory for such a bold move, it is hardly an ideal place.

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• Bhutan's total tobacco ban a breath of fresh air 

If your nicotine patch isn't cooling your ardor for cigarettes, or you're tired of smelling stale tobacco smoke in rental cars, there's a spot at the top of the world for you. Bhutan, already one of the world's most beautiful places, is the first country in the world to institute a complete ban on smoking.

Reaching 24,500 feet high in the Himalayas, the Kingdom of Bhutan was almost completely isolated until 40 years ago, with no roads, schools, electricity, phones, radios or cars. Since then, this Switzerland-size country has stepped gingerly into the modern world, restricting tourists and fiercely protecting the nation's environmental and cultural purity.

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• Tobacco law absence spurs black market  

More than two years after it made history by becoming the first nation to ban tobacco sales and smoking in public, the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan is still awaiting a law to back the ban while a black market in tobacco flourishes. The Tobacco Control Legislation is yet to be drafted though the sale of tobacco was banned in December 2004 and smoking in public places two months later. As the stakeholders met in capital city Thimphu last week to discuss the draft, the battle on tobacco seemed to be losing steam with participants also discussing whether entertainment centres like discotheques, snooker rooms and bars should have a designated room or area for smokers, Bhutan’s official media reported. “It has been a struggle to enforce the ban, especially in these entertainment places,” one of the participants told Kuensel daily.

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• Two years after tobacco ban, Bhutan still awaits law 

More than two years after it made history by becoming the first nation to ban tobacco sales and smoking in public, the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan is still awaiting a law to back the ban while a black market in tobacco flourishes.

The Tobacco Control Legislation is yet to be drafted though the sale of tobacco was banned in December 2004 and smoking in public places two months later.

As the stakeholders met in capital city Thimphu last week to discuss the draft, the battle on tobacco seemed to be losing steam with participants also discussing whether entertainment centres like discotheques, snooker rooms and bars should have a designated room or area for smokers, Bhutan's official media reported.

'It has been a struggle to enforce the ban, especially in these entertainment places,' one of the participants told Kuensel daily.

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• Tobacco legislation at hand 

More than two years after the nationwide ban on the sale of tobacco products and smoking in public places, a legislation on tobacco control is finally being prepared to give the ban a legal backing.

“The ban has been there but only through notifications and warnings serving as a deterrent but there was no specific legal backing to penalise or fine people breaking the ban,” said the consultant from Myanmar, Dr. Nyo Nyo Kyaing who was recruited with World Health Organisation (WHO) assistance to work on the tobacco legislation for Bhutan. “There has to be a legislation for the ban to be effective because it is important to make clear all the offences and the penalties.”

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• Tobacco ban faring well?  

The trade department has cancelled 23 trade licenses in the country found selling tobacco products and collected a fine of Nu. 230,000 till date after the ban on the sale of tobacco was imposed in the country on December 17, 2004.

The break up shows 11 licenses in Thimphu and six each in Paro and Samdrup Jongkhar. The joint director of trade department, Dophu Tshering said that licenses were cancelled the moment business outlets were found selling tobacco products and a fine of Nu. 10,000 was also imposed.

“Businesses have been notified for a long time and there is no need for a warning and the licenses will be cancelled on the first instance,” Dophu Tshering said.

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• Bumthang not tobacco free 

“Welcome to a tobacco free dzongkhag”- that was the first sign that would greet people coming to Bumthang not long ago.

The dzongkhag was commended for being the first to impose a ban on the sale of tobacco. It even won an award of recognition from the World Health Organisation (WHO) for its efforts.

But today, after a nationwide ban was imposed on December 17,2004, finding a place to buy a packet of cigarette or a packet of baba (chewing tobacco) in Bumthang is difficult, only if you are a stranger.

“If you are new in the town, you won’t find any,” said a town resident. “They sell only to people they know.”

Tobacco is available, the only change is the price.

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• Thimphu to combat tobacco black market 

The trade department is roping in thromdey or town representatives in Thimphu to clamp down on the thriving tobacco black market. More than a year after the government banned the sale of tobacco, regulating authorities said that there were many shops selling tobacco products under the counter and through other outlets.

“Despite regular inspections and monitoring, the market is thriving,” said the trade joint director, Dophu Tshering,. “We want to bring this market under control and involve as many stakeholders as possible.”

The town representatives from Taba, Dechenchholing, Motithang, Changzamtog, the Sunday market area, and Norzin lam area will help the department and the various tobacco control committees in educating and creating awareness among the public besides keeping vigilance, according to the director.

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• Ban on sale of tobacco- How effective is it? 

A shopkeeper in Samdrup Jongkhar has her tobacco stock well hidden in the ceiling of her pan shop; a servicemen in Gelephu helped a driver buy a bundle of Baba chewing tobacco; young girl in a Thimphu pan shop keeps a packet of Wills cigarette concealed in her blouse. On December 17, 2004, Bhutan banned the sale of tobacco products. The news drew global attention some even calling Bhutan the “first nonsmoking nation”. But more than a year after the ban, there is no dearth of tobacco anywhere in the country.

Today the ban in effect has made tobacco less visible but still available. From the open shelves in shops it has moved to cash boxes, trash cans, sacks of rice, shoes and socks, packed to look like soap bars- any place that would not meet the eyes of officials on inspection.

“What did the ban do besides skyrocketing the price of tobacco?” asks one smoker. “I have not changed my habit and all my friends (smokers) did not too.”

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• Young defy nation's ban on smoking 

The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan offers a possible glimpse of how a smoke-free Britain might work.

A year ago it was proud to become the first country in the world to ban smoking completely, outlawing the sale of all tobacco products on pain of a severe 11,000 rupee (£140) fine.

Although the ashtrays in Thimphu's hotels have been converted into candle-holders, the country's young people, at whom the measure was principally aimed, appear to be smoking just as much as ever.

At one of the town's many bars, youths clad in leather jackets and fake Diesel jeans from China puff away on cigarettes that are smuggled from India.

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• Ban fires Bhutan smokers 

OUTLAWING the sale of cigarettes, banning smoking in public places and slapping up to 200 per cent tax on cigarettes imported for personal consumption may be the key to cracking public health's top problem.

Bhutan, a country known for its remote beauty and Buddist traditions, has found that this strict approach has prompted half of smokers, in at least one survey, to quit.

The move isn't without detractors though. The young urban middle classes are openly flouting the ban on smoking in public places and Indian cigarette manufacturers are none too pleased at the detrimental effect the measures are having on trade.

Perhaps inevitably, a black market in cigarettes is flourishing in Bhutan

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• Tobacco: good profits 

Sherub Dema (real name withheld), a housewife married to a civil servant working in Bumthang, recently made a visit to Thimphu. She took back a small consignment of cigarettes and chewing tobacco, purchased in the black market.

A packet of cigarette she bought in Thimphu for Nu. 30 will sell in Bumthang for as much as Nu.180. A packet of Baba chewing tobacco, costing Nu. 5.00 in Thimphu, fetches about Nu. 20 in Bumthang.

“I was enticed by the clean profit one can make if you are willing to take chances every now and then,” she told Kuensel.

The National Advisory Committee on Tobacco Control would call this a part of a smuggling racket that has emerged after the ban on the sale of tobacco products that came into effect on December 17, 2004.

The smuggling network seems to be flourishing even with the constant vigilance and frequent raids made by a multi sectoral task force monitoring the market.

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• Coping with the smoke ban 

Discotheques, bars, poolrooms, restaurants and other entertainment centers are trying to cope with the smoke ban in public places. But clearly it's a struggle.

"I am pretty much a chronic smoker," said 23-year old, Trinley Wanghug, 23, a recent university graduate. "And I resent being told to go outside the disco every time I crave for a cigarette."

Less rebellious ones go to the toilets or outside reduced, in the words of Trinley, "to pathetic groups of people puffing in the cold".

Owners of entertainment centers are having to confront many like Trinley who smoke openly in the premises. Most of the time owners pretend they are blind. They have little enthusiasm for irritating their customers. . . .

Some bar-owners and smokers, however, have been exercising their ingenuity in dealing with the ban. Light a cigarette and hide it below the table. It works, they say, as long as the owner gives warning signals whenever unwelcome guests, like the police, appear.

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• Bhutan's smokers face public ban 

Bhutan's Health Secretary Dr Sangay Thinley told the BBC: "The use of tobacco is not so enormous, but with the changing times, we felt that the smoking trend was growing.

"So we thought we'd do something immediate. We know what a problem this is worldwide - the number of people tobacco kills every day."

But more than two months after the ban on tobacco sales, cigarettes and tobacco products are still widely available and consumed.

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