The Indian Health Ministry has decided to ban e-cigarettes on the grounds that they are ‘drugs’. According to a Live Mint report, a notification on this regard will be issued soon. The proposal to ban the nicotine inhalers is part of the ‘first 100- days’ agenda in the Modi government.
The Health Ministry is working to ban the manufacture, import, and sale of e-cigarettes in India. It is being illegally sold in India and is being marketed as a product that can help quit smoking. Whereas in reality, e-cigarettes use a heating element to turn a liquid nicotine solution into vapors, which the user end up inhaling.
Reportedly, under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, the government cannot ban these products, but only regulate their sale. So this was a big dilemma for the Indian government. Finally, experts at a drug consultative committee meeting on 1 June concluded that e-cigarettes and other such devices would fall under the purview of “drug”, and therefore should be banned under Section 26 (A) of Drugs and Cosmetics Act.
Currently, more than 460 e-cigarette brands are available in India, in over 7,700 flavours.
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