E cigarettes banned to prevent youth from falling into new addiction: PM

Urging people to shun tobacco, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said e cigarettes were banned to prevent the youth from falling into the new way of intoxication.

These are his first remarks on the issue of health hazards linked to e cigarettes after the Union Cabinet earlier this month banned its sale, production and storage through an ordinance. The ordinance will be converted into a bill in the next session of Parliament.

In his latest edition of 'Mann ki Baat' radio address, he also said a "myth" has been spread that e-cigarettes pose no danger.

Like the conventional cigarette, it does not spread odour as fragrant chemicals are added to it. He said these chemicals are harmful and pose a health hazard.

" ... do not harbour any misconceptions about e-cigarettes," he said.

Discourses and debates will continue, the support and opposition will continue, but, if some things are checked before they proliferate, then there is a huge benefit, he said referring to the ban.

" ... e-cigarette has been banned so that this new form of intoxication does not destroy our demographically young country. It does not trample the dreams of a family and waste the lives of our children. This scourge and this obnoxious habit should not become rooted in our society," the prime minister asserted.

There is no confusion about angers posed by a cigarette. It causes harm. The smoker and the seller know the harm it causes, he pointed out.

"But the case of e-cigarettes is quite different. There is little awareness among people about e-cigarette. They are also completely unaware of its danger and for this reason sometimes e-cigarettes sneak into the house out of sheer curiosity," he warned.

Urging people to shun tobacco, the prime minister warned that