"The new Act will save our future generations from this lethal habit. It is proven beyond doubt that tobacco kills every third user prematurely through cancer, heart disease and stroke," Chaturvedi added. 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. The Act came into force on Friday. Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi, professor and surgeon at Tata Memorial Hospital, said, "The earlier law, Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003, failed miserably to stop the sale of such products to minors because the fine imposed was only Rs200. The ministry should get a pat on its back for this move that is already being seen as a game changer in the national and international tobacco control community. With this Act, India has become the only nation to impose such a harsh penalty for tobacco sale to and by minors." He said that nearly 27.5 crore Indians are using tobacco and a vast majority of them pick up the habit in their childhood. 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. More than 5500 children/adolescents start tobacco consumption daily. "The new Act will save our future generations from this lethal habit. It is proven beyond doubt that tobacco kills every third user prematurely through cancer, heart disease and stroke," Chaturvedi added. The Act recognises the harmful effects of tobacco and tobacco industry's sinister design to specifically target vulnerable children. In a path-breaking amendment to curb the growing menace of tobacco, the Act has modified section 77 as follows: It is an offence against a child if a person gives or causes to be given any intoxicating liquor or any narcotic drug or tobacco product or psychotropic substance, except on the order of a duly qualified medical practitioner; it shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years and shall also be liable to a fine which may extend up to Rs1 lakh. 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. Yet most users have taken to it when they were children. This problem is so grave that the international treaty, WHO-Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, has on full article (no. 16) on this particular issue."

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