DNA Edit: Jury is out – Decision to ban e-cigarettes is not all that unexpected

The comprehensive all-out ban on e-cigarettes is an utterly sweeping change. The government has taken the ordinance route for the ban, saying that these novel products come with attractive appearances and multiple flavours and that their use has spread exponentially, acquiring ‘epidemic’ proportions among the youth and the children. E-cigarettes — or electronic cigarettes — are battery-operated devices that produce aerosol by heating a solution containing nicotine, which is the addictive substance in combustible cigarettes. This includes all forms of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), e-hookah and similar devices. 

E-cigarettes started gaining popularity in the US in the late 2000s where it was sold without undertaking a review of its health impact. In India, smoking of e-cigarettes or vaping, has surged in popularity in the last two years. Estimates put their global market to $19.4 billion, which is three times the market’s size five years ago. On July 10, 2019, the government informed Parliament that e-cigarettes worth $1,91,781 were imported in India between 2016-16 and 2018-19. Expert opinion about the product is divided as there is no study that documents the long-term impact of vaping. Some researchers have found high nicotine levels in a few brands, while there are others who maintain that vaping is safer than cigarettes. What is certain is the high prevalence of vaping in teenagers and there are brands accused of targeting a relatively younger population. 

India is not the only country to move against e-cigarettes. Last week, Michigan became the first state in the US to ban flavoured e-cigarettes, a step the state governor said was needed to protect young people from the potentially harmful effects of vaping. She, too, complained that e-cigarette companies are using sweet flavours, such as bubble gum and “fruit loops,” to hook young people on nicotine. In June this year, San Francisco became the first major city in the US to ban the sale and distribution of all e-cigarettes. In India, unexpected as the move may seem, has precedents to go by; 15 states and one Union Territory have already banned e-cigarettes before the decision yesterday. They include Punjab, Karnataka, Mizoram, Kerala, Jammu & Kashmir, UP, Bihar, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Meghalaya, Odisha and Nagaland. 

The existing bans were not very effective as online retailers continue to deliver vaping products to states where it is prohibited.  The decision on Wednesday has taken users as well as manufacturers by surprise. Tobacco merchants have requested the government to reconsider its ban move. The Gujarat Tobacco Merchants Association, in a recent newspaper advertisement, appealed to Cabinet ministers to give the draft ordinance, which intended to ban vaping in India, another look.  If the ban is imposed, “The only result would be losses to revenue farmers and tobacco traders and consumers would be adversely impacted”, it said. Others have said the move is aimed at helping the powerful cigarette lobby. Clearly, the jury is out on e-cigarettes.