Parliament passed The Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Bill, 2019 which seeks to prohibit the production, trade, transport, storage and advertisement of electronic cigarettes in the country. The bill was earlier passed in Lok Sabha preceding its approval in Rajya Sabha on December 2nd. The government had issued an ordinance to ban E-Cigarettes in September this year. The new law would replace the ordinance.
The Bill defines electronic cigarettes (E-Cigarettes) as electronic devices that heat a substance, which may contain nicotine and other chemicals, to create vapour for inhalation.
Any person who contravenes this provision will be punishable with imprisonment of up to one year, or a fine of up to one lakh rupees, or both. For any subsequent offence, the person will be punishable with an imprisonment of up to three years, along with a fine of up to five lakh rupees.
Under the Bill, no person is allowed to use any place for the storage of any stock of E-cigarettes. If any person stores any stock of E-Cigarettes, the person will be imprisoned for up to six months, or slapped with a fine of up to fifty thousand rupees, or both. If an authorised officer believes that any provision of the Bill has been contravened, the officer can search any place where trade, production, storage or advertising of E-Cigarettes is being undertaken.
While presenting the bill, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said banning E-Cigarettes was a pre-emptive strike. He said India’s large youth population would have been targeted by E-Cigarette companies. He said it is difficult to ban a product once it gains a large consumer base and social acceptance. He pointed out that E-cigarettes do not have a large consumer base in the country; therefore, the ban will be highly effective. The Minister also said the lack of a ban on tobacco cannot be the justification for not banning a new kind of addiction.
The Minister said the Government has been continuously working in the fight against tobacco and creating awareness about the ill effects of tobacco. He said the Ministry is working towards making all institutions tobacco-free.
In order to prevent the initiation of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) by non-smokers and youth with special attention to vulnerable groups, MoHFW earlier issued an advisory to all States/UT`s, to ensure that Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), E-Cigarettes, Heat-Not-Burn devices, Vape, e-Sheesha, e-Nicotine Flavoured Hookah, and the like devices that enable nicotine delivery are not sold (including online sale), manufactured, distributed, traded, imported and advertised in their jurisdictions.
A sub-committee group constituted by MoHFW, on health effects of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), considered 251 studies/reports and concluded that there is evidence to prove that the ENDS and its variants are harmful to users. This committee of doctors from AIIMS, NCDIR and public health experts has concluded that ENDS are as harmful as any another tobacco product in terms of causing premature deaths and morbidity. According to the committee, that there is no evidence to show that ENDS are less harmful, safe and helpful towards cessation efforts. The medical communities across the globe have also questioned the acceptance of ENDS as a harm reduction or tobacco cessation strategy. 36 countries around the world banned the sale of E-cigarettes due to its health harms.
India has the second largest number of tobacco users (268 million or 28.6% of all adults in India) in the world – of these at least 12 lakh die every year from tobacco related diseases. The total direct and indirect cost of diseases attributable to tobacco use was a staggering Rupees 1.04 lakh crore ($17 billion) in 2011 or 1.16% of India’s GDP.
A recent study, Emerging Forms of Tobacco Use in India by HRIDAY-SHAN, done to gauge perceptions of ENDS & E-Cigarettes amongst school and college students, parents and teachers, revealed that there is gross misinformation about the harmful effect of ENDS, amongst adolescent as they perceive these fun device that are safe. ENDS products have been gaining alarming popularity among the youth in India. It was found that students as young as class 6th or 7th have been caught with E-Cigarettes in their school bags. These products are found to be easily available in markets in these cities and through various online websites.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) recommended a complete ban on E-cigarettes and other electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), based on currently available scientific evidence. As per the ICMR recent paper, it was noted that E-cigarettes and other such devices contained not only nicotine solution, which was highly addictive, but also harmful ingredients such as flavoring agents and vaporisers. Use of ENDS or E-Cigarettes has documented adverse effects on humans, which include DNA damage; carcinogenic, cellular, molecular and immunological toxicity, respiratory, cardiovascular and neurological disorders, and adverse impact on fetal development and pregnancy.