“
Deadly
smokeless chewing tobacco, long banned in Australia, is freely
available in Sydney’s South Asian grocery shops, says a study
published today in the Medical
Journal of Australia.*
The study
has found that 94% of South Asian grocery shops in the Sydney area are
selling the tobacco products, which have been banned in Australia
under Federal legislation since 1991.
Dr Pretti
Sachdev and Professor Simon Chapman from the University of Sydney's
School of Public Health found that nearly all Indian, Sir Lankan,
Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Fijian grovery shops sold the products at
$1 a sachet, with 64% of the outlets keeping them out of sight behind
the counter.
Smokeless
tobacco products are known to be powerful and rapid causes of oral
cancer, some studies showing cancer developing as soon as seven years
from first use. Several Indian state governments have acted to ban
"gutkha", one of the varieties the study found to be on sale
throughout Sydney.
Prof
Chapman said that while the law permitted up to 1.5kg to be imported
for personal use, it was illegal to sell the products.
"Plainly,
huge potential exists for personal imports to be diverted into sales.
There is nothing preventing anyone bringing in 1.5kg a day, every day
of the year."
"The
NSW Health Department can act swiftly to close this trade by sending
its health inspectors to each store, confiscating the product and
warning of prosecution. The fact that 64% of shops kept it under the
counter says they know it is illegal.
"Oral
cancer is one of the most disfiguring, often fatal and almost entirely
preventable forms of cancer we know. The Health Department should act
immediately."
Action
on Smoking and Health has urged the NSW Health Department to take
swift action, and says other state health authorities should
investigate if smokeless tobacco is being illegally sold in their
states and to take action to confiscate the deadly products.
*
See the study at www.ashaust.org.au/pdfs/ChewStudy0509.pdf
See
the gruesome effects
of chewing tobacco (WARNING: graphic)
Comment: Prof Simon Chapman m. 0438 340 304
Additional
comment:
Anne Jones, CEO, ASH Australia ph.
(02) 9334-1876 m. 0417-227-879
Media inquiries:
Stafford Sanders ph.
(02) 9334-1823 m.
0412-070-194
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