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At present 30 countries including Brazil, Mexico and Thailand have banned the manufacture, trade and advertisement of e-cigarettes. In addition to this, Singapore and Cambodia have explicitly banned the possession of e-cigarettes. On the other hand, over 98 countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada and France have decided against banning e-cigarettes. These countries are also advanced and developed countries. They have not decided against banning e-cigarettes and they were recommended by the WHO to take the following measures. What are those following measures -- (i) prevent the initiation of e-cigarettes by non-smokers, and youth, (ii) minimise the potential health risks to e-cigarettes users and non-users from exposure, (iii) prevent unproven health claims about e-cigarettes, and (iv) protect tobacco control activities from all commercial interests related to e-cigarettes/ML.

       I have a strong doubt that bringing an Ordinance of this sort would have been lobbied by the tobacco/cigarette lobby. So, a big, strong doubt arises out of this.

       What is e-cigarette? E-cigarette is a battery-operated device that emits doses of vaporized nicotine to inhale. So, it is basically inhaling tobacco without the smoke.

       E-cigarette has good potential for cutting down cigarettes. Who says this? It is the British Medical Journal published in February, 2018 which has urged the doctors practising in Britain to suggest that 95 per cent of e-cigarettes are less harmful than the conventional smoking methods. Many countries which have banned smoking e-cigarettes, as we have done now, have revoked the ban saying the potential health hazards are much less compared to the conventional smoking methods. But Dr. Harsh Vardhan should be knowing, as I know since I am too a doctor, that both e-cigarettes and cigarettes have hazardous effects on health such as COPD, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, lung cancer, and heart diseases. Does it anywhere say that e-cigarettes are less harmful than conventional smoking? Both are hazardous. Why do you target only one of them?

       In this context, it is pertinent to mention that prior to this announcement, 16 States and one Union Territory had already banned e-cigarettes. In August 2018, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had released an advisory to all the States requiring them not to approve any new e-cigarettes and restrict the sale and advertisements of e-cigarettes. Further, there are also international regulations for e-cigarettes. India is a signatory to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) which was developed in response to the globalisation of the tobacco epidemic. In 2014, the WHO FCTC invited all its signatories to consider prohibiting or regulating e-cigarettes in their countries. This was suggested due to emerging evidence on the negative health impact of these products which could result in lung cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and other illnesses associated with smoking. Since then, several countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Singapore and Thailand have banned the production, manufacture and sale of e-cigarettes. Recently, the States of New York and Michigan in the USA banned the sale of flavoured  e-cigarettes, whereas, in UK, the manufacture and sale of e-cigarettes has been allowed based on certain conditions. Further, the advertisement and promotion and the levels of nicotine in e-cigarettes is also regulated. This ban will also help youngsters.

       The notion that e-cigarettes may help smokers quit regular cigarettes benefitting their long-term health is a myth. Rather, young people who have never smoked traditional cigarettes, are taking up e-cigarettes which are available in over 1500 flavours, including bubble gum and candy floss.

       In a survey of US youths aged between 12 and 17 years, 81 per cent of e-cigarette users reported that the first product they ever used was flavoured and that they use e-cigarettes because they come in flavours which they like. According to the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 3.6 million children in the US use e-cigarettes with a jump of 78 per cent (from 11.7 per cent to 20.8 per cent) of US high school students reporting e-cigarette use from 2017 to 2018.  In the UK, 1.6 per cent of those aged between 11 years and 18 years use e-cigarettes more than once a week compared to 0.5 per cent in 2015.  Due to the highly addictive nature of nicotine, there is also a risk that young e-cigarette users might switch to using traditional cigarettes.  Indeed, some health care professionals refer to e-cigarettes as a ‘gateway drug’.