Along with outlawing plastic bags and secondhand cars, Bhutan, the Himalayan kingdom nestled in the clouds between China and India, has become the first country in the world to completely ban tobacco sales. Bhutan's National Assembly imposed the crackdown last July, and the law went into effect last December. This isolated monarchy, which allows only 7,000 tourists a year, and requires most of its citizens to wear the national dress, prides itself on its environmental policy aimed at preserving the pristine Himalayan region. But developing the no-smoking policy has been a challenge. The small country of only 700,000 people has started to develop roads and infrastructure, while dutifully preserving the countryside— almost 70 percent of which is covered in forest.
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