Tobacco.org

• 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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