Industry lobby trying to get ban on e-cigarette lifted, claim health groups

Voluntary organisations fear that the tobacco industry lobby is working behind the scenes to get the ban on e-cigarettes lifted in Karnataka.

 Public health representatives, legal experts and farmers on Thursday came together to urge the Karnataka government to stick to its ban on electronic cigarettes and not yield to the industry lobby.

Dr Upendra Bhojani, assistant director, Institute of Public Health (IPH) said states like Punjab and Maharashtra have also banned the sale of e-cigarettes. He added, “It is an old tactic by the industry to create confusion among policymakers through wrong information and use front groups.” He also wanted the Karnataka government to bring in a policy on the lines of the one in Punjab, where the tobacco industry is not recognised as a legitimate stakeholder in framing the tobacco control policy. “The Karnataka government has taken an important step for public health by banning electronic cigarettes. However, there seem to be under-the-carpet efforts being made by the industry people to force the government to withdraw the ban. They are trying to mislead tobacco farmers who don’t have any connection with the e-cigarette ban,” said S J Chander, programme officer, Society for Community Health Awareness Research and Action.

Explaining that e-cigarettes, which resemble cigarettes, do not contain tobacco but only nicotine, he said, “Industry people are misleading some sections of farmers in the state to oppose the e-cigarette ban. This seems to be an effort to shoot at the government from the shoulders of innocent farmers.” 

The Karnataka government, on June 15, 2016, through a notification, prohibited the “sale (including online), manufacture, distribution, trade, import and advertisement of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems, their parts and components in any shape or size of cartridges containing nicotine”.