Tobacco products to display gruesome warnings and "QUIT TODAY" helpline
July 17, 2018The Supreme Court of India has refused to put on hold the Government's new notification requiring the tobacco manufacturers to have warning pictures of cancer patients on cigarette packets and other tobacco products. The new notification also required the packets to have a “ QUIT TODAY CALL” number for people who wish to quit consuming tobacco. This ruling is set out to be in effect from the first day of September 2018.
The Supreme Court refused to hear an application filed by the tobacco manufacturers challenging the new notification and accusing the government of violating the order of the Apex Court. In January 2018, the Apex Court had quashed the government regulation which stated that a statutory health warning must be given on cigarettes and other tobacco products.
As per new rules, it is mandatory to replace the picture of a person's throat with a hole, with more gruesome pictures of real people suffering from throat or mouth cancer. Further, the warning line has to be changed from “ Smoking causes cancer” to “ Smoking causes painful death” and “ Tobacco causes cancer” .
However, the Apex Court has said that reasonable warnings should be there on the products and complete information should be given about the repercussions. Further, it added that the product cover should display warnings in 85% of the product body as already amended.