“What About Other Tobacco Products?” Asks Twitter After Ban On E-Cigarettes

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a complete ban (with immediate effect) on electronic cigarettes and vapes under the Prohibition of E-cigarettes Ordinance, 2019, yesterday. The ordinance is expected to become a bill in November. According to NDTV, offenders can face a penalty of Rs 1 lakh and a jail term of up to one year. Repeated violations can increase the penalty to Rs 5 lakh and up to three years imprisonment.

The Indian Express quoted her saying, “The Union Cabinet has given the approval to ban e-cigarettes. It means the production, manufacturing, import/export, transport, sale, distribution, storage and advertising related to e-cigarettes are banned.”

She further added, “Reports say that there are some who are probably getting into the habit of e-cigarettes as it seems cool. It is believed that there are more than 400 brands, none of which is manufactured yet in India. And they come in over 150 flavours.”

The move was welcomed by people but also raised several questions on why other tobacco products (regular cigarettes, gutka, khaini, beedis etc) did not meet the same fate. The Global Adult Tobacco Survey 2 (GATS 2) conducted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in 2018 reveals that 0.02% of adult Indians use e-cigarettes. To put things in context, 11.2% use khaini, 7.7% smoke beedis and 6.8% consume gutka.

People have called out the government’s hypocrisy and asked why other tobacco products haven’t been included in the ban.

Some have even alleged ulterior motives behind the ban saying that the government holds substantial stake in cigarette manufacturing companies like ITC. The tobacco lobby has also been cited as a reason for the same.

https://twitter.com/VibhorVerma92/status/1174270555689836544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1174270555689836544%7Ctwgr%5E363937393b636f6e74726f6c&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.scoopwhoop.com%2Fnews%2Fgovernment-bans-sale-production-of-e-cigarettes%2F

Do you think a ban on other tobacco products is imminent? Or is the revenue generated by the tobacco industry a major deterrent in this regard?

Representative Cover Image Source – left, right

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