Summary:
With this Act, India has become the only nation to impose such a harsh penalty for tobacco sale to and by minors. The Act recognises the harmful effects of tobacco and tobacco industry's sinister design to specifically target vulnerable children. Dr PC Gupta of Sekhsaria Institute of Public Health, Navi Mumbai, said, "Everyone in this world, including the tobacco industry, agrees that tobacco products are not meant for children. Health experts working on an anti-tobacco campaign in Mumbai have welcomed the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, of the ministry of women and child development, which imposes a harsh penalty on the sale of tobacco to minors. As per the Global Adult Tobacco Survey, the age of initiation to tobacco in India is 17 years and up to 20% of children in India are users..