Ecobreves – CHILE: Fear of Growing Contraband Cigarette Market

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

SANTIAGO, Mar 18 2006 (IPS) - Chile's new Anti-Tobacco Law, to take effect in June, could increase the black market for cigarettes in the areas surrounding primary and secondary schools, where shops will be prohibited from selling cigarettes, warn some lawmakers. That is a real possibility, “but it is the duty of the authorities to step up enforcement” to prevent it, Norma Salinas, leader of a Santiago school group, told Tierramérica.

The law, passed on Mar. 14, will be the first to be enacted by the recently inaugurated — and first woman — president, Michelle Bachelet, a physician specializing in pediatrics and public health.

Chilean legislation will thus adapt to international conventions that have recently tightened restrictions on tobacco use, considered a global public health problem, and in Chile associated with 17 percent of all deaths.