Jail for smoking out of place in Nigeria

Nigeria’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) yesterday approved a new National Tobacco Control Bill 2014 that, among other things, provides for six-month jail terms for smoking tobacco in nondesignated places, according to a story in the Nigerian Bulletin.

Minister of Health Onyebuchi Chukwu told journalists that the bill, which is still to be sent to the National Assembly for passage into law, “is specifically to control the dangerous effects of tobacco and to forestall tobacco manufacturers from turning the country to a dumping ground.”

It seems that the penalties for smoking in nonsmoking areas will, for an individual, include fines of up to N50,000 and prison terms of up to six months, or combinations of a fine and imprisonment.

The minister was quoted as saying that companies, presumably those running establishments where smoking is banned, face fines of from N1 million to N5 million, along with imprisonment of the chief executives from one year to two years.

Chukwu said the proposed tobacco law sought to achieve a 100 percent tobacco-free environment in the country.

Meanwhile, the law bans tobacco advertising and sponsorships, and it requires the inclusion of health warnings taking up “50 percent of the packaging.”