Bhutanese police raid homes to stub out smoking habit
January 12th, 2011 - 1:25 am ICT by Aishwarya BhattThimphu, Jan 11 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Bhutan authorities have come out with new ways to ensure that smuggling of tobacco into the country is stopped.
The country has banned tobacco smoking in the country since 2005. Subsequently, tobacco products are not allowed to get into the country unless under strict conditions. Most of the tobacco products are smuggled from neighboring India.
In a bid to stop the practice, the police have been mandated to enter private rooms and search for tobacco and tobacco products. Sniffer dogs are also being trained to be able to sniff out the products from houses.
Bhutan believes that the smoking of tobacco is bad for the karma of the person who smokes it. Therefore if anyone is caught with the product, the offender could be jailed for five years.
Smokers can only smoke when they are in the private homes. The number of cigarettes that they can light up is just 200 pieces a month. When the police search the house and find the tobacco, it is the responsibility of the person to prove to the police that the tobacco is within the allowed limit.
The new law that allows the police to enter rooms and search for tobacco was passed at the beginning of the year.
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Tags: authorities, bhutan, cigarettes, India, karma, new ways, police raid, police search, private rooms, smokers, smoking habit, sniffer dogs, strict conditions, tobacco products, tobacco smoking