CAIT asks govt to set up panel to deliberate on e-cigarettes regulations

Traders' body CAIT Tuesday asked the Union Health Ministry to set up an expert committee to deliberate on appropriate regulations for electronic cigarettes or Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS).

ENDS are devices that heat a solution to create an aerosol, which also frequently contains flavours, usually dissolved into propylene glycol and glycerin.

In a memorandum to Health Minister Harshvardhan, CAIT said while over the past decade the government has instituted several tobacco control measures, the rate at which smoking prevalence is dropping has remained low.

It said that "tobacco harm reduction" has emerged as a viable solution to reduce this disease burden by substituting the use of combustible cigarettes with lesser harm alternatives like e-cigarettes.

"Cigarette smoke exposes smokers to over 400 toxins and 69 known carcinogens, and e-cigarettes, which are an electronic, combustion-free alternative provide users a similar amount of nicotine, without emitting these toxins and cancer-causing chemicals," it said.

CAIT further said that it has "been established by leading public health bodies like the Public Health England" that ENDS are at least 95 per cent less harmful than cigarettes and globally, these products are being used to strengthen tobacco control measures of various countries like UK, Canada, and New Zealand