E-cigarettes banned: All you need to know

india

Updated: Sep 18, 2019 16:30 IST

The Centre on Wednesday said the sale of e-cigarettes and other electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) is banned with immediate effect.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made the announcement at a press conference after the cabinet meeting and said production, manufacturing, import, export, transport, sale, distribution, storage and advertising related to e-cigarettes will now be punishable.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had also recommended a complete prohibition on ENDS and e-cigarettes in larger interest of protecting public health.

What are e-cigarettes

E-cigarettes are battery-operated devices that produce aerosol by heating a solution containing nicotine,which is the addictive substance in combustible cigarettes.

Watch: Govt bans e-cigarettes citing health reasons, ordinance soon

E-cigarettes made their debut in India about a decade ago and rapidly gained popularity among the youth. A false belied that they did not contain nicotine added to their appeal.

E-hookahs will also be banned, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said, adding that there is no health benefit from e-cigarettes.

E-cigarettes produce carcinogens such as formaldehyde, although these are fewer in number compared to regular cigarettes. They also increase the odds of lung disease and myocardial infarction, but to a lesser extent than normal cigarettes do.

Tobacco companies introduced the product to make up for the losses they suffered by the state trying to reduce tobacco use and also as an alternative means to hold on to customers who would otherwise have quit.

Research shows that many youngsters, who would otherwise have never started using nicotine, took up conventional smoking after being introduced to e-cigarettes.

The tobacco companies went to town promoting e-cigarettes as a ‘less risky’ smoking option, however thier real motive was to introduce it to people who would otherwise quit smoking altogether.