Over 3,000 vapers petition to PM to legalise e-cigarettes

Amid a raging debate over banning of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) in the country, including e-cigarettes and flavoured hookah, more than 3,000 users of these devices have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting him to legalise them.

In their petition, they claimed their health has improved significantly after they switched to vaping from smoking conventional cigarettes.

"I am 51 and have successfully quit a 20-year habit of smoking over 40 cigarettes a day with the help of vaping, also known as as e-cigarettes. I have regained stamina, my heart condition is better and there is no smoker's cough. There are thousands like me whose lives have been positively impacted," said Jagannath Sarangapani, a professional from Hyderabad.

Sarangapani, who initiated the petition to counter the misinformation surrounding ENDS, said smoking is among the toughest habits to give up, with almost every smoker trying to quit but failing and stressed that they need more options to wean away from deadly cigarettes and ENDS are now the most effective means of doing so.

"A ban will force me back into smoking," he added.

In August last year, the Union Health Ministry issued an advisory to all states and UTs to stop manufacture, sale and import of ENDS after the Delhi High Court took strong exception to the Centre's delay in coming up with appropriate measures to tackle the "new emerging threat" of e-cigarettes.

The advisory was subsequently challenged in Delhi High Court which ruled it to be non-binding on states and government bodies.

However, 13 states in India Punjab, Karnataka, Kerala, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Puducherry, Jharkhand and Mizoram have already banned use and sale of e-cigarettes, Vape and E-Hookah.

Professor Rajesh Sharan from North-Eastern Hill University in Shillong, who recently published a meta-analysis of 229 studies on ENDS, said, "Within the limits of available information, our study indicates that these devices pose minimal health and safety concerns when compared to conventional cigarettes.

"Our study establishes that new generation ENDS may serve as an efficient means of meeting the nicotine demand of a person addicted to smoking, without the grave health consequences of conventional cigarettes. Rational policies are required to extend the benefits of ENDS to smokers, while preventing their misuse, especially by adolescents and non-smokers."