Death Marketing-1

Local administration assisting in TC law violation

While the existing TC law bans all forms of advertisements and promotions of tobacco products, a local administration authority is found to be assisting JTI by handing out its resources to violate TC law. Recently, the multinational tobacco company Japan Tobacco Inc. (JTI) arranged a spectacular program in Betagi upazila of Borguna district. The purpose of this program was to boost its sales persons' 'morale' to expand the death trade of the company. What is utterly deplorable in this is that the program was arranged in a local govt. managed Upazila Parishad auditorium. To encourage the sales persons in selling more and more tobacco products of the company, the company handed out JTI t-shirts and cigarette packs as presents. The sales persons were also shown alluring videos to motivate them. The fact that such a program was arranged in a govt. office building in the very front of a local administration does not only show a blatant violation of TC law but also shows a sheer disregard to the PM's commitment about making the country tobacco-free by 2040. The local administration must not assist tobacco companies in their death trade but rather should ensure proper implementation of TC law and discourage the prevalence of tobacco use. At the same time, any type of use of govt resources in tobacco companies' activities must be stopped.