Should India allow less harmful methods such as e-cigarettes and vaping!

While people like Rajeev Gowda, former Rajya Sabha member and Congress leader, think that the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes law of 2019 may be counterproductive as it completely shuts the door for less harmful methods such as e-cigarettes to inhale nicotine, other health experts believe that e-cigarettes and other vaping devices actually lead to actual smoking and does not help people in quitting the addiction of cigarettes.

New Delhi:Is vaping, which is the practice of inhaling and exhaling nicotine in vaporized form, less harmful than smoking a regular cigarette? Can e-cigarettes be helpful in quitting smoking? These are some of the questions that divided health experts and policymakers in a programme organized to discuss the future roadmap of tobacco regulation in the country.

While people like Rajeev Gowda, former Rajya Sabha member and Congress leader, think that the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes law of 2019 may be counterproductive as it completely shuts the door for less harmful methods such as e-cigarettes to inhale nicotine, other health experts believe that e-cigarettes and other vaping devices actually lead to actual smoking and does not help people in quitting the addiction of cigarettes.

Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Act

In September 2019, the central government enacted the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes (Production, Manufacture, Import, Export, Transport, Sale, Distribution, Storage and Advertisement) Act of 2019 that shut the doors for electronic cigarettes such as JUUL. Rajeev Gowda admits though that the science behind these heated nicotine products is not fully understood but says there is a need to allow less harmful methods to wean people away from smoking.

Gowda says that even in 2019 he suggested against imposing a complete ban as it would lead to underground activities. “It is imperative that tobacco regulations evolve to reduce harm, to provide people with enough information, and scale up efforts like cessation clinics, that will help people to wean them off from these addictions. You need alternative methods which will allow people to phase out overtime,” Gowda told the audience in a programme organized by Policy Circle in New Delhi.

“I hope that we will move away towards a future which is much more rational, and allows people to move away from their involuntary addiction,” said the former Rajya Sabha member who is working on a policy paper on the subject. However, some health experts strongly disagree with the suggestion that use of e-cigarettes or electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) should be adopted as a tobacco control measure.

ICMR expert panel recommended complete ban

Dr K Srinath Reddy, a renowned public health expert and president of Public Health Foundation of India, who chaired the Indian Council of Medical Research’s (ICMR) expert group on e-cigarettes had successfully advocated against permitting e-cigarettes in the country in May 2019.

“At this juncture, marketing of a product like ENDS or e cigarettes, with unproven benefit and high potential harm from addiction and health risks, is unwarranted and to the detriment of tobacco control measures,” Dr Reddy had said in his report which led the government to promulgate the ordinance to completely ban e-cigarettes in the country in September 2019.

E-Cigarettes not helpful in quitting smoking

Some health experts present in the programme argued that none of the studies suggested that it (use of e-cigarettes) led to lesser reduction. Dr Gopi Chand Khilnani, who is head of Pulmonology department in PSRI Hospital in New Delhi, says these e-cigarettes help people to inhale nicotine through propellants that give them the feeling that they are smoking.

“The people who resorted to vaping as an alternative to smoking, they did not quit smoking, they did smoking plus vaping,” said Dr Gopi Chand Khilnani, “Ultimately, the committee thought vaping does not lead to public health,” said Dr Khilnani who co-chaired the ICMR expert committee on e-cigarettes with Dr K Srinath Reddy.

Constitutional provisions

Delhi based lawyer Lalit Bhasin said under Article 47 of Indian Constitution, it is the duty of the State to raise the level of standard of living and improve public health. Article 47, which is part of the directive principles of state policy, says: “The State shall endeavour to bring about prohibition of the consumption except for medicinal purposes of intoxicating drinks and of drugs which are injurious to health.”

Strike at the root of the problem: Murari Tiwari

Murari Tiwari, President of Delhi Bar Council, sought a complete ban on the production and sale of tobacco products in the country to improve public health. He says a complete ban on the production and sale of all kinds of tobacco products will strike at the root cause of the problem.

“When it is established that it is not good for health then why is it manufactured? The only motive is to generate revenue and then we enact laws to curb its use. It gives the illusion in the society that the government is doing something to control it,” Tiwari told the audience.