E-cigarettes can cost you Rs 1L fine or 1 year in jail

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday banned e-cigarettes and asked the owners of the existing stock of all types of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) to declare and deposit them at the nearest police stations.

The Union Cabinet approved the promulgation of the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes (production, manufacture, import, export, transport, sale, distribution, storage and advertisement) Ordinance, 2019 that would allow the law enforcing agencies to clamp down on such devices that are popular among the youth.

Once the law comes into effect, any activity involving e-cigarettes will be a cognizable offence punishable with an imprisonment of up to one year or fine up to Rs one lakh or both for the first offence. For a subsequent offence, the imprisonment term will go up to three years while the fine could be jacked up to Rs five lakhs.

Storage of electronic-cigarettes shall be punishable with imprisonment up to six months or fine up to Rs 50,000 or both, according to a press note issued by the cabinet. ENDS are not manufactured in India and almost entirely imported from China.

“Currently there are more than 400 brands and they are available in 150 plus flavours. They are odourless and don't smell like tobacco. Ground reports from India suggest youngsters prefer ENDS as a style statement and would not mind trying it,” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters after the Cabinet meeting.

The Cabinet decision comes in the wake of two expert committee reports including one from the ICMR that unanimously recommended a ban because of the adverse health consequences of ENDS.

However, the ICMR in its report stated that there are more than 460 different e-cigarette brands with the varied configuration of nicotine delivery available in the market with over 7700 flavours. This makes collation of data on health effects more difficult for scientific studies.

“Their efficacy and safety as a quitting aid have not yet been firmly established. Although some smokers claim to have cut down smoking while using ENDS, the total nicotine consumption seems to remain unchanged,” notes the ICMR paper.

“There is already mounting evidence available in the published medical literature to prove that the ENDS and its variants are harmful to any user and may be as bad as any other tobacco product in terms of causing premature deaths and morbidity,” notes the health ministry sub-committee report. The WHO doesn't endorse e-cigarettes as cessation aids.

The e-cigarettes don't burn tobacco; instead, it vaporises a solution that consists of nicotine, propylene glycol and/or vegetable glycerin. They may also contain heavy metals like nickel, tin, and lead, volatile organic compounds and flavouring chemicals.

Such devices adversely impact the cardiovascular system, contribute to lung diseases and have the potential to impair immune cell functions.