The Bauchi State House of Assembly is set to enact a law that would prohibit smoking cigarettes in the state.
The Speaker of the Assembly, Rt. Hon. Abubakar Sulaiman said this in Bauchi during an interview with journalists. According to him, the law, if enacted, would help in reducing cigarette smoking and checkmate sellers of prohibited intoxicants.
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He said instead of prohibiting smoking directly, the proposed law would prohibit the use of certain products by cigarette companies.
Sulaiman added that the state is not going to only consider the health impact of cigarette smoking on the smoker but the danger it posed to other members of the society who are close to the smokers.
“It is painful no note that it is not only the smokers that are at risk, but their close associates, families, and friends are also affected,” he said. “It would be good to check cigarette smoking and other issues connected with the production and selling of it.”
He added: “We will enact relevant laws that will protect the people from the dangerous effects of smoking.”
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Sulaiman emphasised the need for farmers that plant the weeds and its marketers to know the dangers of what they are selling to the public.
The speaker called on civil society organizations to hasten the submission of inputs on the dangers of smoking to the assembly.
