Dangers Of Tobacco Advertising

In 2001 India commented that a bill to ban tobacco advertising and sponsoring sports and cultural events was on the horizon. The ban was intended to educate the youth about the dangers of tobacco use and give the Indian government a way to initiate an anti-tobacco program. Proponents of the ban tout, Norway, Finland, New Zealand and France have all enacted a ban on advertisements of tobacco products. The International Union against Cancer performed a study in 1997 documenting the effects of an advertisement ban on tobacco products in these 4 countries and found drops in smoking levels from 14%-37% from the beginning of the ban until 1996 (dates range from 1975; 26% drop and 1993; 14% drop). Keeping with international precedents India proposes to ban the advertisement of a substance the World Health Organization suggests will kill near 8.4 million in 2020 and up to 10 million in 2030. Many deadly and dangerous products that are legal to sell internationally have restrictions on advertising of their products such as guns and prescription drugs. Also many governments the world over have a total ban on items deemed to endanger the lives of its …show more content…
This very particular area of prohibition only makes the other sectors of the market more profitable. I believe an education program about the dangers of tobacco for the youth of India is a noble pursuit, without proper knowledge of the subject they could be easily influenced to engage in the use of tobacco. This can be said about many dangerous and illegal activities and I think education programs rather than prohibition of advertisements would be a more effective approach. If a ban on tobacco advertisements is to be effective I believe that a total ban on advertising of tobacco products would be necessary, to ban a few and allow many is not a ban at