Tobacco Industry at the School Gates: How Younger Generation Being Lured to Tobacco Addiction in India
Tobacco Industry at the School Gates: How Younger Generation Being Lured to Tobacco Addiction in India
When the walk to school becomes a marketing trap
In the quiet lanes around our schools, a silent recruitment drive is underway. While teachers focus on education and parents worry about homework, a powerful industry is busy cultivating its next generation of customers—what it has long called “replacement smokers.”
This is not accidental. It is designed.
A Crisis That Begins Too Early
The numbers should disturb us all.
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Around 5,500 children in India start using tobacco every single day
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Nearly 37% are exposed before the age of 10
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Tobacco kills over 1.3 million Indians every year—that’s roughly 3,700 deaths every day
Addiction that begins in childhood often lasts a lifetime. And the earlier it starts, the harder it is to stop.
What We Found Outside School Gates
As lead researcher of the Big Tobacco, Tiny Targets investigation, I led a two-phase national study covering 1,011 educational institutions across 25 cities, including Delhi, Chennai, and Rohtak.
What we found was deeply troubling.
Despite a clear legal ban under India’s tobacco law (COTPA, 2003), tobacco products were routinely sold and promoted within 100 yards of schools. These were not isolated violations—they followed clear patterns.
Four Ways Children Are Groomed for Addiction
👁️ 1. Tobacco at a Child’s Eye Level
In over 90% of shops, tobacco products were displayed at exactly one metre from the ground—the average eye level of a child.
This is not a coincidence.
It ensures that children see tobacco every time they visit a shop—even if they came to buy candy.
🍬 2. Cigarettes Next to Sweets
In our first phase, over 90% of tobacco displays were placed right next to candies, biscuits, or toys.
Even in the later national phase, 72% of vendors continued this practice.
The message to a child is subtle but powerful:
Tobacco belongs with treats.
🚬 3. The Single-Stick Trap
A full cigarette pack is expensive for a student. A single cigarette is not.
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Over 90% of vendors sold loose or single cigarettes
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This removes the price barrier and makes experimentation easy
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What starts as “just one” quickly becomes a habit
Single-stick sales are one of the most effective entry points into addiction—and one of the least regulated.
🚫 4. Hiding the Health Warnings
Graphic warnings work—but only if they’re visible.
In our national study, over 60% of shops displayed tobacco products in ways that deliberately hid health warnings, neutralising one of the strongest public health safeguards.
Law on Paper, Marketing in Practice
India’s tobacco law clearly prohibits:
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Sale of tobacco near schools
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Advertising at the point of sale
So why does this continue?
Because penalties are laughably low—sometimes as little as ₹100.
For retailers and companies alike, this is simply the cost of doing business.
Even worse, enforcement focuses on small vendors, while tobacco manufacturers remain untouched, despite benefiting from widespread violations.
What Needs to Change—Now
If we are serious about protecting children, cosmetic compliance is not enough. We need real reform:
✔️ Ban all point-of-sale tobacco displays
No exceptions. No visibility.
✔️ Introduce mandatory vendor licensing
Shops selling tobacco should not sell child-friendly items like biscuits or soft drinks.
✔️ End single-stick cigarette sales
This is the single most effective step to block youth initiation.
✔️ Raise penalties and fix responsibility
Manufacturers must be held accountable—not just small shopkeepers.
Why This Matters
Schools should be safe zones, not marketing zones.
When children are surrounded by tobacco on their way to class, laws lose meaning and public health loses ground. The Tiny Targets investigations make one thing clear: children are not accidentally exposed to tobacco—they are systematically targeted.
If we fail to act, we allow our children to be treated as the base of business for a lethal industry.
That is not just a legal failure.
It is a moral one.
Author
Amarjeet Singh Panghal
Advocate, Supreme Court of India
Founder, PRAN Policy Research Action Network Foundation
About PRAN
PRAN Policy Research Action Network Foundation is an independent public interest organisation working at the intersection of law, public policy, and rights-based advocacy to strengthen consumer protection, public health, and regulatory accountability in India.
References:
· “Big Tobacco, Tiny Targets 2020 study” → https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QpkXO0GPxyU4P-cJTe2bJNj1aHflPWdU/view?usp=sharing
·
“Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products
Act (COTPA), 2003” →
https://legislative.gov.in/sites/default/files/A2003-34.pdf
·
“Ministry of Health and Family Welfare” →
https://ntcp.mohfw.gov.in/
·
“World Health Organization Framework
Convention on Tobacco Control” →
https://fctc.who.int/
·
“sale of single cigarettes”
(evidence-based concern) →
https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/WHO-NMH-PND-20.3
#TobaccoControl #ProtectOurChildren #BigTobaccoTinyTargets #COTPA #PublicHealth #TobaccoFreeGeneration #LegalAdvocacy #PRAN