By
Tricitynews
Chandigarh 24th October:- Council for Harm Reduced Alternatives (CHRA), a national tobacco
harm reduction organisation that works towards reducing the tobacco health
burden through safer alternatives, and Association of Vapers India (AVI), a
consumer rights group that represents e-cigarette users across the country, has
flayed the Punjab government’s recent ban on e-cigarettes, saying it will
deprive smokers of a less harmful alternative and cause havoc with public
health.
E-cigarettes
are an electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) and their use is also known
as vaping. Punjab has banned e-cigarettes following an advisory issued by the
central government.
Noting
that tobacco use in Punjab has risen from 11.7% in 2010 to 13.4% in
2017, CHRA has contended it is clear that measures adopted by the state
government to check the menace are not working and additional, more effective
ones are urgently needed.
It
is regrettable that the government has resorted to an e-cigarette ban at a time
when tobacco use and smoking in the state is on the rise. CHRA Director Samrat
Chowdhery said that instead of increasing the quit pathways, the Punjab
government is limiting them further by banning safer alternatives which have
shown great potential across the world in helping smokers quit. He added
that the lakhs of smokers in the state have a right to reduce harm to
themselves and those around them by switching to less risky alternatives.
AVI
has demanded the state withdraw the ban in the interest of public health.
Punjab should instead regulate sale and use of e-cigarettes to keep them out of
the hands of minors.
As
per the findings of studies undertaken by the world’s leading medical agencies,
which include American Cancer Society, Public Health England and the US FDA,
use of e-cigarettes is 95% less harmful compared to tobacco cigarettes. This is
because unlike in tobacco cigarettes, e-cigarettes do not have combustion that
produces tar and releases toxic chemicals, which are the main cause of
tobacco-related deaths.
Dr
Rohan Sequeira, a cardio-metabolic physician at Mumbai’s Jaslok hospital,
termed the Centre’s advisory a knee-jerk reaction. He said that when there is
an alternative that is upto 95% safer than tobacco cigarettes, there is
no reason why the government should ban it.
E-cigarettes
do release nicotine which is habit-forming, but contrary to common myth, it
does not cause cancer. Health regulators in developed countries like the US,
the UK and other European countries have permitted use of e-cigarettes given
its potential in fighting the menace of tobacco. Thanks to their regulatory
embrace of e-cigarettes, these countries have seen significant declines in
smoking rates unlike India, which is struggling to control the epidemic as
prevalence is increasing in some regions.
CHRA
said that the UK, which has adopted e-cigarettes as a tool for smoking
cessation, hopes to become smoking-free by 2030. But unfortunately, the Punjab
government has decided to ignore developed countries’ positive experience with
e-cigarettes.
Dr
Sequeira said the Centre has not followed principles of developed countries in
banning e-cigarettes, which is surprising as governments there tend to be more
cautious in such matters given the possibility of class action suits. The
government should consider regulating the sale of ENDS and follow the same
protocols of sale to minors.
Dr
Farrukh Khan, a senior lawyer of the Delhi high court, slammed the
decision to ban e-cigarettes, saying it is perverse as judicious application of
mind has not been made and international standards for regulation of ENDS
overlooked while drafting it.
Dr Farrukh
Khan said that the ban will help the tobacco industry, not public health. He
added that he is providing pro bono (for the public good) legal services to
those who intend to challenge the central advisory and states’ circulars
banning e-cigarettes and other ENDS products.
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