“E-cigarettes are just a mechanism to deliver nicotine in an attractive format. They are being marketed as a harm-reduction product, which is contrary to the truth. Youngsters are being lured as it is easily available in different flavours. People should not get lured because e-cigarettes too are harmful,” said Bhavna B Mukhopadhyay, chief executive of the Voluntary Health Association of India.
This committee concluded that the products have cancer-causing properties, and are highly addictive, based on which the Union government is looking into implementing a ban. Since the the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), does not cater for such a ban, the health ministry is now examining other laws such as the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and the Food Safety & Standards (Prohibition and Restriction on Sales) Regulation, 2011, to effect the ban.
“COTPA does not have a provision to ban and, therefore, we are faced with the challenge of finding a strong provision. We are convinced about the harmful effects of e-cigarettes but if we do not back it up with a strong provision under the law, then it will fall flat in the courts,” said a senior official.
E-cigarette bans are violating international trade laws
Interestingly, a policy study just published on R.Street was conducted with the aim of looking into whether such bans are even legal, and found that not only do they violate World Trade Organization rules, but most of them also violate domestic laws.
“Currently, tobacco-heated products that contain tobacco are classified as tobacco products and therefore do not face discrimination issues,” said R Street Associate Fellow Maria Foltea. “However, e-cigarettes, which do not contain tobacco, can be classified either as ‘recreational’ or ‘medical products and devices.’ This broader classification opens the door for their prohibition, because nicotine is a drug that also has medicinal uses. Such classification can subject products that contain nicotine to a different set of classifications in ways that appear arbitrary.”
Foltea pointed out that although vaping products are significantly safer than their combustible counterparts, the two distinctly different products are in direct competition on the market. “There is therefore good reason to believe that, as long as traditional cigarettes are freely traded, a ban on e-cigarettes will be found discriminatory under WTO rules. Accordingly, regulators must consider such issues of legality before enacting any such prohibitive laws.” she concluded.
On the other hand, India’s Health secretary C K Mishra said, “We are looking into all aspects of e-cigarettes, and working on a methodology to contain the harm from it,” whilst adding that the ministry was likely to decide on the matter very soon.
Banning safer alternatives, but not regular cigarettes
Hence, even from this standpoint, many public health experts would argue that condemning electronic cigarettes and banning them, while the regular deadly versions are still widely available for sale, is plain ridiculous.
More info : The Times of India
I’ll never travel to a nation where ecigs are banned but tobacco remains for sale the same as always. But I would travel to a nation where both tobacco and ecigs are unobtainable. Name one nation where cigarettes are unobtainable.
India is flooded with corruption so such ideas from the health department of India come to me as no surprise.
Why the fuck would someone ban these things which can help people quit smoking.? We all know its the tar and other hundred harmful chemicals in tobacco that cause cancer, none of which are found in e-cigs. Plus in UK, millions have cut down/quit ciggerates by vaping. A hell lot of tests have proved that e-cigs are atleast 90% safer than tobacco counterparts, this is a foolish decision. The govt is banning e-cigs to improve the sale of conventional cigs as they can be taxed heavily and due to e-cigs this business is falling. *claps* *applauds* Wonderful game plan.