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Peshawar Uni smoking ban: Students call it 'cosmetic'
PESHAWAR, June 4(Daily Times): Shops inside
the Peshawar University have stopped selling tobacco and smokers have to buy
cigarettes from outside the campus.
Some angry students have scrawled
graffiti over the notices displayed near shops by the university administration
asking shopkeepers to stop selling cigarettes and naswar. A student doubted the
success of move by writing, "This is your dream and you will not succeed."
Another student has posed a question to the university administration, "Have you
set up some prison where you are imposing this rule?" One ridicules the ban by
saying, "There is no ban on charas," and another one writes, "Ban cigarettes,
but sell charas."
In a survey, shopkeepers outside the campus said that their cigarettes sale had increased since the on campus ban on
smoking had been imposed. Wali Jan, a shopkeeper outside the campus at the Dhobi
Ghat Market, said that his sales of cigarettes had increased by Rs
1,000 to 2,000 after campus shopkeepers were banned from selling
tobacco.
Aslam, another shopkeeper, said that he had recorded a slight
increase in the sale of cigarettes and that it would take nearly two weeks to
judge the impact of the ban. He also said that most students had gone to their
homes on account of summer vacations.
Shopkeeper Haji Gul said his sales
had increased by Rs 500 to 1,000 due to tobacco sales, adding that the sales
would increase when the campus opened after summer vacations.
Most
students, however, think that the ban is 'cosmetic' and will dissolve with the
passage of time. They are buying cigarette packs to avoid shortage on the
campus.
Political Science Department student Shakeel said he bought a
packet every evening from outside the campus. Shareef, from the Geography
Department, said employees at hostels would start selling tobacco within the
next few days and that, "We will not have to go far away to buy
cigarettes."
It is a lot easier to get naswar, as one user, Shabir, said,
"I buy a packet of naswar on a daily basis and it is easy to get naswar than to
taking puffs on cigarettes."
The university administration has banned the
sale of cigarettes on the campus from June 1, 2007. According to a survey
conducted by the Psychology Department, about 5,000 students out of the total
20,000 were smokers.
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