Experts Warn Against Misleading E-Cigarette Narratives Targeting Youth

Health and child rights experts have raised concerns about the portrayal of e-cigarettes and vapes as healthier alternatives to traditional tobacco products, warning that these products can lead youth to traditional tobacco use. India's ban on e-cigarettes and vapes has potentially saved millions of young people from addiction.

Health and child rights experts are sounding alarms over the increasing portrayal of e-cigarettes and vapes as healthier alternatives to traditional tobacco products, warning these items also serve as gateways to conventional tobacco use.

Experts call this "misleading narrative" a strategic attempt by the industry to ensnare the youth, particularly those aged 10 to 19. They lauded India's ban on e-cigarettes and vapes, crediting it with potentially saving at least 24 million young people from addiction. Priyank Kanoongo, Chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), emphasized the dangers of e-cigarettes during a webinar organized by Tobacco Free India on Sunday.

India, the world's second-largest tobacco market, enacted the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Act in 2019. Kanoongo highlighted that at least two million new people start using tobacco products annually, leading to 1.3 million deaths and costing over one per cent of the GDP. The ban on nicotine products is estimated to prevent at least five per cent of the young population from addiction, significantly shielding the nation's health and development.