Admn urged to ban e-cigarette

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 26

A city-based NGO has urged the Chandigarh Administration to ban the sale of e-cigarettes on the pattern of Punjab.

According to GATS-2 (Global Adult Tobacco Survey) report, 13.7 per cent of adults in the UT consume tobacco in some form or the other.

Citizen Awareness Group and Delhi-based Consumer Voice have raised a concern over increasing trend of e-cigarette use. The NGOs have urged the UT Administrator and the Health Secretary to ban the sale of e electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), commonly known as e-cigarettes.

The letter by the NGOs mention an advisory issued by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare dated August 28 this year asking all states and UTs to ban the sale of e-cigarettes. 

Surinder Verma, chairman of Citizen Awareness Group, said, “e-cigarette is a battery-powered vaporizer, which simulates the feeling of smoking but without burning tobacco. These newer forms of addiction are destroying the young generation. Before it is too late, we request the UT Administration to completely ban e-cigarettes to save people from the nicotine menace.”