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NEW DELHI: The health ministry has asked all states and Union territories to carry out special drives near schools and colleges to prevent marketing and sale of e-cigarettes. India banned e-cigarettes in 2019, reports DurgeshNandan Jha.
However, Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan recently wrote to chief secretaries of all states and UTs stating e-cigarettes were still available through online stores and local vendors. “Instances of such devices being sold at convenient/stationary stores near educational institutions have also been reported, which is resulting in easy access by young children to such products,” Bhushan said.
He added that increasing availability of such prohibited products called for serious attention and action to ensure effective enforcement of the Prohibition Of Electronic Cigarettes Act 2019. E-cigarettes which are often referred to as ‘vapes’ are battery-operated smoking devices that create vapour by heating a mix of nicotine, propylene glycol and flavour which when inhaled feels like smoking a cigarette. Proponents of e-cigarettes and the industry claim it is less harmful than regular cigarettes and helps in kicking the butt.
However, multiple researches have shown e-cigarettes did not help smokers quit at rates higher than smokers who did not use these products and that it contained volatile compounds in e-cigarettes that were found to be carcinogenic with prolonged usage adding to cancer risk. A study by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, USA, showed most adult e-cigarette users do not stop smoking and are instead continuing to use both products.
The Union health secretary in his letter to the chief secretaries of states/UTs has requested for a review the compliance status of the provisions of The Electronic Cigarettes (Production, Manufacture, Import, Export, Transport, Sale, Distribution, Storage and Advertisement) Act, 2019 and issue necessary instructions for effective implementation of the provisions of the Act.
However, Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan recently wrote to chief secretaries of all states and UTs stating e-cigarettes were still available through online stores and local vendors. “Instances of such devices being sold at convenient/stationary stores near educational institutions have also been reported, which is resulting in easy access by young children to such products,” Bhushan said.
He added that increasing availability of such prohibited products called for serious attention and action to ensure effective enforcement of the Prohibition Of Electronic Cigarettes Act 2019. E-cigarettes which are often referred to as ‘vapes’ are battery-operated smoking devices that create vapour by heating a mix of nicotine, propylene glycol and flavour which when inhaled feels like smoking a cigarette. Proponents of e-cigarettes and the industry claim it is less harmful than regular cigarettes and helps in kicking the butt.
However, multiple researches have shown e-cigarettes did not help smokers quit at rates higher than smokers who did not use these products and that it contained volatile compounds in e-cigarettes that were found to be carcinogenic with prolonged usage adding to cancer risk. A study by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, USA, showed most adult e-cigarette users do not stop smoking and are instead continuing to use both products.
The Union health secretary in his letter to the chief secretaries of states/UTs has requested for a review the compliance status of the provisions of The Electronic Cigarettes (Production, Manufacture, Import, Export, Transport, Sale, Distribution, Storage and Advertisement) Act, 2019 and issue necessary instructions for effective implementation of the provisions of the Act.
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