THE Lagos State House of Assembly recently held a public hearing on “A Bill for a law to provide for regulation of smoking in designated places in Lagos State and for connected purposes”. The Bill, which was sponsored by Honourable Gbolahan Yishawu, seeks to legislate smoking within designated areas in the city. Stakeholders at the hearing included members of the organised private sector, government officials from the key ministries, tobacco control advocates and representatives of the tobacco industry.

Though the legislators were lauded for taking the initiative to prohibit smoking in certain areas, they were also asked to ensure that all stakeholders’ views were taken on board. The former Lagos State Attorney General (AG), Prof. Osibajo, in his submission at the hearing said the state government is currently thinking of empowering citizens to sue tobacco companies for distribution of harmful products. This is in addition to the on-going civil charges levied against several tobacco companies by the state for similar reasons.  Though this may look like a practical solution to addressing the issue of tobacco smoking, many will see it as setting a legislative precedence, which other companies such as the alcohol and sugar manufacturers may most likely, become culpable.

Driving policies to protect public health is a laudable move that should always be approached within the context of the issues at play. Looking critically at the tobacco industry and the regulatory, strategies deployed in several countries, many have not succeeded in curbing the incidence of tobacco smoking, but have instead ended up in allowing unscrupulous tobacco smugglers to gain foothold in the trade.

Canada, which has one of the harshest tobacco regulations, is currently battling with the problem of smuggling. “Contraband tobacco is still a big problem in Canada... Despite new powers given police to crack down on contraband dealers, sales of bootleg smokes are on the rise in Atlantic Canada, the National Coalition Against Contraband Tobacco said Tuesday (May 7) at an Ottawa news conference.

The coalition said criminal organisations in Ontario and Quebec have also adapted to new laws designed to curb the problem. “The Canadian, Ontario and Quebec governments have all given police new powers to investigate and charge those that traffic in the trade,” said coalition spokesman Gary Grant. “But the illegal cigarette industry continues to evolve to compensate.”

Whilst the former AG may have good intentions, this in itself is not the answer to the solution; the reality is that several other products today are deemed to be as injurious as tobacco. In a Sunday Morning Herald article titled “Sugar as harmful as tobacco and alcohol”, three U.S. scientists from the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) maintain sugar is more than just “empty calories” that makes people fat. They argue that high calorie; sweetened food is indirectly responsible for 35 million annual deaths worldwide due to lifestyle related conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

Professors Robert Lustig, Laura Schmidt and Claire Brindis call for restrictions and controls on sugar that mirror those on tobacco and alcohol.” This call for controls on the use of sugar invariably affect so many beverage companies, who have been restricted from marketing in schools in the U.S. and have started to look at driving low calorie alternatives, a strategy which is similar to the production of alternative and harm free tobacco products. Also recently, Coca-cola in a pledge on responsible marketing said they would not market their products to children under the age of 12.

An Economist article entitled ‘No Smoke, Why the fire’ spoke about the introduction of ‘E-cigarettes’ into the market, thereby bringing in more health related benefits accruable to public health: “some inventions are so simple, you have to wonder why no one has come up with them before. One such is the electronic cigarette... E-cigarettes do not just save the lives of smokers: they bring other benefits too. Unlike cigarettes, they do not damage the health of bystanders. They do not even smell that bad, so there is no public nuisance, let alone hazard, and thus no reason to ban their use in public places. Pubs and restaurants should welcome them with open arms.”

Appropriate and effective legislation coupled with educational campaigns and corporate accountability or responsible practices should be the main focus for the government on all these products.  Instigating legal actions against businesses will simply add to the list of negative economic policies such as multiplicity of taxes which investors face in Lagos State. Question is how many companies will be sued? Alcohol companies, energy drinks, beverage companies with high calorie content or fast foods? Also who stands to benefit, the government, the people or the litigators?

• Obaloju wrote from Lagos.