Formulate laws, ensure the ban does not go up in smoke

E-cigarettes threaten to harm society and need to be banned immediately. A mere change in name does not mean that this cigarette is not harmful and is better than the normal paper cigarette. Studies are underway to establish the effect of e-cigarettes on smokers and non-smokers and their level of addiction. The liquid substance used in e-cigarette is as harmful as the rolled powder in paper cigarettes. The plea that e-cigarette is used by smokers to quit smoking is also debatable. Studies have pointed out that smokers usually tend to use both normal cigarette as well as e-cigarette.

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Dr Rajeev Kumar, Chandigarh

Benefits unknown

The e-cigarettes, invented by Chinese pharmacists, are gaining popularity on the pretext that these do not cause cancer. The fluid inside is nicotine, propylene glycol, glycerine and flavouring agents. The benefits and health risks of e-cigarettes are uncertain and unknown. It is said to be safe for both users as well as passive smokers and is also said to help in quitting smoking. However, more research may be carried out to find out the long-term effects of inhaling nicotine vapour.

Harish Kapur, Chandigarh

Court judgment laudable

Awarding three-year jail term to a Mohali shopkeeper for selling e-cigarettes is a laudable judgment. Unscrupulous elements resort to such nefarious activities for petty gains, unmindful of effects on the health and life of young generation. To ward off youngsters from such menace, not only is general awareness needed in educational institutions, law enforcing agencies must also ensure deterrent punishment to those indulging in such unlawful activities.

SS Arora, Mohali

Law should regulate sale

In addition to potential health effects, the main concern is that it is increasingly becoming popular among youngsters and adolescents. There should be strict laws to regulate the sale, possession and consumption of e-cigarettes. It should be subject to similar restrictions like other nicotine and tobacco products. There should also be restrictions on promotion and advertisement of these products, especially on the Internet. We need to educate children about dangers and risks of using e-cigarettes and being exposed to second-hand e-cigarette vapour.

Kamalpreet Kaur, Mohali

Ban not that easy

The simple answer is to ban it but it is not that easy as such products are available despite a ban, like alcohol in prohibited areas. People have been given an impression that it is less harmful. It is a habit-forming product harming humans — this message should be propagated through the media and other means. De-addiction centres should take up counselling of addicts and warning smokers. It can only be done by educating people.

Bharat Bhushan Sharma

Court action a right step

Awarding jail sentence to a shopkeeper selling e-cigarettes containing nicotine in violation of the law is a step in the right direction. Since the implementing machinery has not come up to the expectations to make the youth aware and to implement the laws meticulously, the only alternative left to implement the enacted laws is the prosecution of violators and punishment awarded by the court, depending on the magnitude of the violation. It will send a right signal to the youth and sellers, involved in such activities.

AS Ahuja, Chandigarh

Ban will help youngsters

E-cigarette can prove to be more harmful than the regular cigarette as it can lead to aggravation of cancer and liver ailments. The Health Department should disseminate information about harmful effects of this dangerous habit to the public through the electronic and print media. There should be a strict ban on the sale and smoking of e-cigarettes, thus saving our younger generation from the menace.

Bhupinder S Sealopal, Mohali

Don’t ruin health of youth

Regulations on the sale of e-cigarettes must be clear and definite. All law-breakers should be strictly dealt with and sent to jail. Let’s not ruin the health of the nation and the future of our youth.

Col RD Singh (retd), Ambala Cantt

Make licence mandatory

The authorities have so far not been able to implement fully the Anti-Tobacco Act. People are even seen smoking in markets. Though the sale of cigarettes to minors is prohibited, the law is not implemented. I suggest that the sale of cigarettes be taken at par with liquor and just as licence for selling liquor is mandatory, obtaining of licence should be made compulsory for selling cigarettes so that vendors do not sell it on the roadside. A record of the stock of cigarettes should be maintained and it should be checked frequently.

Balbir Singh Batra, Mohali

Complete ban needed

It sounds unjust that a drunken driver should get just one-month imprisonment while a vendor selling e-cigarettes is put behind the bars for three years. The government spends crores on publicising the statutory warning on smoking but never dares to ban either the production of tobacco products or wine. If the evil is nipped in the bud, half the problem is over. There should be a complete ban on the manufacturing of products so that the innocent shopkeeper does not get punished.

Madan Gupta Spatu, Chandigarh

Conviction unjustified

The conviction of a Mohali trader selling e-cigarettes is unjustified. It is unjustified because cigarettes containing nicotine are being sold with impunity by the roadside. Why no action is being taken against them? All tobacco products contain nicotine. Then why doesn’t the government ban smoking totally. The court should reverse its order and release the “convicted” trader immediately.

RK Kapoor, Chandigarh

Educate youth about its bad effects

Apart from applying all preventive measures on smoking, relevant laws should be enforced for control over the sale of e-cigarettes among youth. Also, the need of the hour is to educate the youth about the ill-effects of e-cigarettes on bodily functions like the respiratory system.

Capt Jagdish Chand Verma, Chandigarh

Punishment will have deterrent effect

First, the awareness campaign looks mandatory to caution youngsters about the ill-effects of e-cigarettes. Secondly, a surprise check for identification and catching culprits selling the intoxicant must be initiated to curb the menace. The security agencies must also keep a close watch on these elements who are spoiling youngsters to make easy money. Exemplary punishment like the one given by the Mohali court will have a deterrent effect on those involved in the business that threatens to destroy the life of the youth.

Wg Cdr Jasbir Singh Minhas (retd), Mohali

It can lead to drugs

Unlike traditional smoking, e-cigarette is a modern source of inhaling nicotine that causes addiction which is dangerous for the young generation. In the name of e-cigarette, one can easily fall prey to other drugs. Therefore, only a statutory warning would not serve the purpose. To save the generation, it must be strictly banned by each state and the provision for punishment similar to that for other drugs should be made immediately.

Surinder Paul Wadhwa

Vendors at receiving end

It is a step in the right direction but at the wrong level. Poor vendors are always at the receiving end. They just sell products after buying them from wholesale dealers to earn their daily bread. It is good that the Punjab Government has woken up to pitfalls that the deadly nicotine leads to by directing 

its police to be proactive. It has woken up to the harm caused by the continued consumption of nicotine. The police 

action at Mohali has stirred public opinion.

SC Luthra, Mani Majra

E-cigarettes more addictive, harmful

comment | Nitin Jain

It was a path-breaking verdict indeed! In a first-of-its-kind conviction in the country, a shopkeeper of Mohali has been sentenced to three years in jail for selling e-cigarettes under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. Additional Sessions Judge Saru Mehta Kaushik also slapped a fine of Rs 1 lakh on 25-year-old Parvesh Kumar of Punjab Crockery in Phase VII.

It may be recalled that in 2013, the Punjab State Drugs Controller had issued a circular declaring e-cigarette an “unapproved drug”. The “Electronic Nicotine Delivery System (ENDS)” device uses battery-powered cartridges to produce a vapour considered unsafe.

Since nicotine constricts blood vessels, it affects all organs in the body and can cause cardiovascular diseases, and even stroke. Exposure to nicotine during adolescence can slow down development of the brain. Contrary to popular perception, an e-cigarette does not emit harmless water vapour but an aerosol. It has been found to contain at least 10 chemicals which can cause cancer, induce birth defects or do other reproductive harm.

“It is a proven fact that e-cigarettes are even more addictive and harmful than normal cigarettes,” says Dr Rakesh Gupta, State Programme Officer, Tobacco Control Cell, Punjab.

Nicotine preparations approved by the Drugs Controller of India are nicotine (as polarcrilex) lozenges 2 mg and 4 mg, nicotine as (as polarcrilex) gums 2 mg and 4 mg and nicotine transdermal therapeutic patches. Selling any other nicotine product without licence is a punishable offence under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940.

E-cigarettes responsible for ushering in a so-called ‘no-smoking revolution’, are fast becoming a fad, especially among youth. They are marketed as a healthy substitute to cigarettes. All claims made on their potential benefits are a farce. The most important ingredient of e-cigarettes is nicotine.

In 2014, the then Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had announced that e-cigarettes would be banned. He had also issued awareness notices to e-commerce sites, a majority of which are still selling e-cigarettes openly.

Having done well in the field of tobacco control in general, Punjab has shown the way to the entire country to end the nicotine-delivery devices sold in the form of e-cigarettes.