Despite ban, none booked for smoking in public in Tamil Nadu in 2 years
(WorldNews India)

CHENNAI: `Smoking will cost you,` will remain a punchline on anti-smoking awareness videos in Tamil nadu where authorities have become tolerant to public smoking despite a ban, suggests data from the Centre. According to a written reply submitted in the Lok Sabha by Anupriya Patel, minister of state for health and family welfare, between April 2015 and March 2017, not one person was brought to book in Tamil Nadu under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (COTPA) Act, 2003. The act bans actions like public smoking (section 4) and selling tobacco products to minors and within 100 yards of an educational institution (section 6) among others. Since October 2, 2008, when smoking in public...