PARLIAMENT'S JOINT Select Committee on Human Resources and Social Development will not be acting on the Ministry of Health's (MoH's) recommendation to licence tobacco retailers, noting that these measures would be 'impractical' and 'difficult to enforce' in Jamaica. The decision was made at a recent sitting of the committee.
Worldwide there are 1.1 billion smokers. In Jamaica, 36 per cent of males and 11 per cent females in the 15-45 age group, smoke tobacco, according to a 1993 risk behaviour survey.
"Studies of cigarette consumption patterns in Jamaica also revealed that despite the various control measures such as taxation and increased prices, and although annual per capita consumption appeared to be declining, total consumption remained fairly steady, and therefore, there was no significant decrease in the overall prevalence," the committee heard.
STUDENTS SMOKING
The Joint Select Committee also found that a school survey done in 1997 targeting children in grades 9 to 13, found that 27 per cent of the school population were experimenting with cigarettes, and that one in 23 adolescents in schools were smoking.
"It was found that these adolescents had easy access to cigarettes because there were no laws in place to prohibit the sale of tobacco products to minors," the report said.
Meanwhile, Committee chairman Dr. Donald Rhodd said the report on the deliberations is expected to be tabled for debate in the new parliamentary year.
