Govt approves ordinance to ban production, import of e-cigarettes

The government on Wednesday decided to ban e-cigarettes for which an ordinance was cleared making the production, import, export, transport, sale or advertisements of such "alternative" smoking devices a cognizable offence attracting jail term and fine. First time violators will face a jail term of up to one year and a fine of Rs 1 lakh. For subsequent offences, a jail term of up to three years or a fine of Rs 5 lakh, or both have been prescribed, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who headed a Group of Ministers (GoM) on the issue, said.

Storage of electronic-cigarettes shall also be punishable with an imprisonment up to six months or fine of up to Rs 50,000, or both. "The Cabinet today gave approval to a decision to ban e-cigarettes which is also otherwise technically called ENDS (Electronic nicotine delivery systems), which means production, manufacturing, import, export, transport, sale, distribution and storage and advertisement related to e cigarettes are all banned," Sitharaman said.

She said the Cabinet took the decision as e-cigarettes and similar products pose health risk to people, especially the youth. The ordinance will come into force once approved by the President. It will be converted into a bill in the next session of Parliament.

Quoting data which, she said, was largely derived from the US' experience, Sitharaman noted that there has been a 77.8 per cent increase in the use of e-cigarettes among school students and surprisingly, use of such products by middle school students has also seen a 48.5 per cent rise. Many science journals have already said nearly three million people in the US are regular users of e-cigarettes and in a matter of four to five years, between 2011 and 2015-16, there has been over 900 per cent growth in e-cigarettes in the US, the Union minister said.

Referring to ground reports in India, she said e-cigarettes, which unfortunately was promoted in the country initially as a way of quitting smoking, are becoming a "style statement". "But reports say that actually many people are no longer using it to quit smoking and there are some who are getting into the habit because it seems cool," Sitharaman said.

"It is believed that there are more than 400 brands, none of which is manufactured in India yet. They come in over 150 flavours. But the smoke exhaled by e-cigarettes users contains very high level of residual nicotine which affects passive smokers badly. The impact of e-cigarettes... has already caused a lot of concern in the US and many western countries," she said. Referring to seven deaths in the US recently, Sitharaman said those are directly linked to e-cigarettes.

Many people will say the long-term direct impact of e-cigarettes is yet to be scientifically established, the Union minister said, adding, "But the Cabinet rightly thought it is time we immediately take a decision so that our citizens' health is not put at risk." According to an official statement, on the date of commencement of the ordinance, stocks of e-cigarettes will have to be suo motu declared and deposited with the nearest police stations.

Unlike the tried and tested nicotine and non-nicotine pharmacotherapies that are known to help people quit tobacco use, the World Health Organisation (WHO) does not endorse e-cigarettes as cessation aid. The official statement said, "The possibility of tobacco industry interference in tobacco cessation efforts through misinformation about the potential benefits of these products, which are presented as alternatives but in most cases are complementary to the use of conventional tobacco products, also is a present and real possibility."

"Apart from nicotine, e-cigarettes may also be used for delivery of other psychoactive substances... Widespread use and unchecked proliferation of e-cigarettes and the like devices would seriously undermine and derail the government's efforts to reduce the prevalence of tobacco use," it said. Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan said a debate on whether e- cigarettes and similar products are more harmful than tobacco cigarettes was of little help.

"Why are we debating whether it it more or less harmful...it is a good move to ban it," she told reporters at the cabinet briefing. Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said it is a preventive step and it is always better to prevent health risks at a later stage of life.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan is out of the country and was not present in Wednesday's Cabinet meeting.