“Businesses have been notified for a long time and there is no need for a warning and the licenses will be cancelled on the first instance,” Dophu Tshering said.

After nearly two years of the ban, there is much debate whether the ban has yielded results.

While the ban on the sale of tobacco has not been effective in the country with sales still going on, the number of users has decreased and many tobacco users have also reduced the consumption, said the joint director of the Information and Communication Bureau (ICB) of the health ministry, Sonam Phuntsho.

“The access and availability of tobacco has certainly reduced,”said Sonam Phuntsho.

There is no statistical data to authenticate the actual trend of tobacco consumption after the ban in absence of an impact study till date.

However, to gauge some impacts of the ban, the health ministry is all set to conduct a study- “Prevalence of Tobacco Use”- which will, among others, determine the age group of people that start consuming tobacco and the age group with maximum consumers.

“It will be a broad study and will not be able to say whether the consumption is increasing or decreasing,” said the director of public health department, Dr. Ugen Dophu.

With the ban already in force, authorities say that implementing the ban is the most difficult part. It came out strongly during the fourth meeting of the “national steering committee on tobacco control” on October 12, which was chaired by the health minister Lyonpo Jigmi Singay.

In his closing remarks, Lyonpo Jigmi Singay said that while there has been progress, implementation was a big challenge. He said that a multi-sectoral and a proactive effort was needed and added that the system should be aggressive and not complacent to implement the ban.

According to trade officials, black market of tobacco products is very rampant. New and innovative methods of selling tobacco are also evolving in the market. “While we have somewhat controlled the sale through commercial outlets, people are also selling it individually and it is very difficult to catch these people,” said Dophu Tshering.

Dr. Ugen Dophu said that to ease the scenario, the health ministry is also taking a lead in preparing a Draft Comprehensive Legislation on Tobacco Control.

The legislation would dictate terms for controlling the sale of tobacco, smuggling, enhancing the smoke free places and also outline services like counseling for people who want to quit consuming tobacco and it will also safeguard individual rights, said Dr. Ugen Dophu. The legislation is also an obligation under the framework convention for tobacco control, which the National Assembly ratified in 2004.

Till date, tobacco products have been seized at the checkpoints hidden under vegetables, bettlenuts, pork carcasses, under taxi driver’s seats and even inside the spare tyre of vehicles.

Implementing the ban also involved many intricacies. While the sale was banned, a ban was not imposed on individual consumption. While smoking in public places was banned, there is no penalty imposed for those found guilty apart from being told not to do so, giving it very feeble legal backing.

Moreover, enforcing agencies like trade did not have enough people to monitor, said Sonam Phuntsho. “The regional trade offices have less than five officers and they have to look after a region comprising of more than a district. It is not feasible,” he said.

Thus, the identified smoke free zones are not always smoke free. Discotheques and night bars are, more often than not, a smoker’s hub. “It is very difficult to regulate the ban in discotheques,” said Dr. Ugen Dophu. “The smoke free policy is not working because there is no penalty imposed,” said Sonam Phuntsho.

However, authorities say implementation would see a new impetus henceforth.

“Individuals are taking the ban for granted. We want to let everyone know that from now on, we will take vigorous efforts to implement the ban.” A sub committee comprising of police, City Corporation, transport officials, health and trade will conduct more frequent tours said Dophu Tshering.

“People are also not allowed to smoke when they drive,” he said.