ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court asked the federal government on Wednesday to explain what measures it had taken to curb the import of tobacco used in “sheesha” (glass water pipe hookah) as well as to launch a public awareness campaign about its harmful effects on health.

“The government has to submit the report within a month, enlisting steps for discouraging the tobacco import,” said a two-judge bench headed by Justice Gulzar Ahmed.

The court had taken up a case relating to tobacco epidemic in the country, which was initiated by former chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry suo motu in 2006.

The former CJ had taken notice after realising that the trend of sheesha smoking was increasing day as a result of which a large number of sheesha cafes were opened in different cities. It was also noticed that such cafes were frequented mostly by the youth, where they also used hard and soft drugs.

On Wednesday, Deputy Attorney General Sohail Mehmood informed the court that the government had declared as smoke-free 82 public places, including parks, hospitals and government buildings. The administration had raided 108 cafes and stores in Islamabad during 2014-15 and imposed a fine of Rs1.4 million for serving sheesha smoking or selling cigarette packs without warning signs, he said, adding that the administration had raided 81 such places in 2013 and fined Rs217,000.

Referring to a separate application moved by one Adnan Chaudhry seeking permission to import tobacco-free water pipe sheesha, the DAG submitted a research conducted by the National Institute of Health Public Access, US, which showed that the claim that non-tobacco sheesha smoking was not harmful was misleading. In fact, he added, smoke from non-tobacco water pipe contained identical amount of carbon monoxide, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon and other injurious gases similar to the tobacco sheesha smoking.

The research also admitted that sheesha tobacco smoking, long associated with the Eastern Mediterranean Region, was becoming increasingly common among adolescent and young adults worldwide.

The apex court directed the government to advertise harmful effects of sheesha smoking through newspapers, television, billboards, etc, and arrange corner meetings to convince and discourage people, especially youth, from indulging in sheesha smoking.

Advocate Ahmer Bilal Soofi informed the court that the government had signed an international treaty called the World Health Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2005.

The convention insists on the protection from exposure to tobacco smoking and calls for regulating the contents of tobacco products, dealing with the packaging and labeling of tobacco products, creating education, communication, training and public awareness. The framework also calls for discouraging illicit trade in tobacco products and their sales to minors and providing support for economically viable alternative activities.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government informed the court that it had submitted a draft bill – Protection of Tobacco and Non-Smokers Act 2016 – that sought a ban on sale of cigarettes and tobacco products within a radius of 100 metres of educational institutions and hospitals.

The Punjab government said it was working on the Punjab Prohibition of Sheesha Smoking Bill 2014 to curb the menace of sheesha smoking.

Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2016