nicotine

hookah

Delhi High Court

Kothrud

nicotine patch

Samrat

While the popular belief is that e-cigarettes or other electronicdelivery systems (ENDS) is the exit route for tobacco addicts, there is a growing school of thought that vaping is the entry point for the youth who then graduate to smoking real cigarettes. Acting on the latter belief and armed with an advisory from the Union ministry of health and family welfare, issued in August last year, the food and drug administration (FDA) of Maharashtra has banned use of such devices.It has summarily prohibited the manufacture, distribution, import, advertisement and sale of all forms of ENDS, be it e-cigarettes, heat-notburn devices, vapes, e-sheeshas, e-nicotine flavouredand the likes.The Union ministry’s advisory was exactly that — an advice and not a mandate, leaving the option to adopt the suggestion on individual states. In fact, a petition challenging the advisory inwas not entertained on the grounds that it was not binding.As reported by Mirror (Maha FDA pushes ban on e-nicotine delivery systems, on March 16, 2019), the Maharashtra FDA chief Pallavi Darade, had written to the state government as well as Drug Controller General of India (DGCI) seeking to go through with the prohibition. In response, FDA was issued letters from the Union ministry of health and family welfare as well DGCI, giving the go ahead to implement it.Defending her decision to pursue the ban, Darade told Mirror, “All these devices contain nicotine, which makes them attractive to the youth and are also habit forming. In the long term, this will impact the health of these people and so we need to ban them completely.”She is unimpressed by reports that say the devices are not as harmful as cigarettes and other tobacco products. “Nicotine, in whatever quantity, is harmful to general health and in public interest we have taken this decision.Orders have gone out for vigilance against manufacture, trade or sale of such devices,” Darade added. Even as the health impact of vaping is up for debate in the scientific and industry forums, the last few years have seen a rising demand for the smoke-free contraptions. At “The Smoke Shops” that have been mushrooming across the city, there is a definite demand for these devices, especially from regular smokers seeking to quit. A smoke shop owner at Meera Nagar in Koregaon Park informed, “We have huge demand for such devices and the liquids used in them. Most of the buyers are regular customers. The devices cost between Rs 3,500 and Rs 15,000, the liquid refills come at Rs 150-2,300, depending on quality and volume. Most of the customers were chain smokers choosing to shed the habit.” He also admitted that many of these were in the prime of their lives.Another vendor atrevealed, “The demand is so huge that the manufacturing company develops three to four models in a single month. We sell over 50 flavours and every month a new one is added, based on demand. Our products are not imported but sourced from local dealers. These products have eaten into the market for hookah pots and flavours.” He is, however, puzzled why the move was made, given that the government is collecting substantial taxes on the products.At Ruby Hall Clinic, Dr Abhijit Lodha, consultant physician, pointed out, “The devices are used by chain smokers in their bid to quit. True the products are not entirely harmless, but their use substantially reduces the risk of heart diseases, stroke and cancer in people who are addicted smokers. Of course, there are other recourses such as theand gum that help people get off smoking.”Attacking the move,Chowdhery, director, Association of Vapers, India, noted, “The state FDA has based its decision on faulty reasoning to prohibit ENDS. It cited the Union government’s advisory, which is not binding. The Delhi High Court observed as much. Last month, the same court stayed the Centre’s restrictions on import and sale of ENDS observing that the devices and their content did not qualify as drug.Maharashtra has 2.4 crore tobacco users. Such low risk alternatives that are 95 per cent less harmful than smoking will be lost to this huge population.”At present, ENDS are regulated in 65 countries across the globe, including developed economies such as the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, Canada, New Zealand. Many of them are witnessing remarkable drop in smoking since ENDS were legalised, contended Chowdhery. “As ex-smokers who have reported dramatic improvement in health since switching to ENDS, we will strongly resist this anti-people action by the state FDA,” he added.