In view of the detrimental impact of vaping, the Indian cabinet banned the production, manufacturing, distribution and sale of e-cigarettes in India. Following the prohibition, the use of e-cigarettes can attract a penalty of Rs. 1 lakh rupees or a prison term of one year for first-time offenders. Subsequently, repeat offenders can be penalised to up to Rs. 3 lakh rupees or three years in prison.
“There has been a substantial increase in the number of young people, including school children, taking to e-cigarettes in the US and even in India, the youth is said to consider vaping as a style statement,” said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while briefing the media on the decision taken by the Cabinet.
India, today, has around 100 million adult smokers and is only second to China in terms of tobacco consumption.
Earlier this week, New York became the second state in the United States to ban e-cigarettes following several health concerns related to vaping.
While initially, e-cigarettes had emerged as a safer alternative to smoking, the impact that they have on health is not very well known. While proponents of this practice argue that e-cigarettes do not contain the harmful tar that is present in traditional cigarettes, the liquid contained in the e-cigarettes could be just as detrimental to health.
Despite these uncertainties regarding the ill-effects of vaping, the number of vapers across the world have massively increased. According to data, the number of vapers has seen a huge surge from about 7 million in 2011 to 41 million in 2018.
