“The government is more
concerned about protecting
the cigarette industry than
improving public health.”
of residual nicotine in it and those who passively inhale them are
also affected.”
(Let’s park the ‘odourless’ and ‘smoke’ comments and arbitrary ‘150
flavours’ fi gure for now.)
The ban has, of course, met with frustrated opposition from the
country’s fledgling vape industry and passionate advocates.
E-cigarettes remain a fairly niche product despite JUUL’s rumoured
plans to launch in the country.
Samrat Choudhery, founder of Association of Vapers India (AVI), drew
attention to the government’s ties with the powerful tobacco industry.
“The government owns 28 percent of ITC, a leading manufacturer of
cigarettes, which means it is directly profi teering from the cigarette
trade, along with earning thousands of crores in taxes on cigarettes.
“The Association of Vapers welcomes regulation and taxes, but a
ban will kill conversation surrounding its health effects which are
still unclear.”
The value of the government’s stake in ITC surged by 1,800 crores
(£204 million) following the announcement of the ban.
The tobacco industry is frequently painted as the antagonist in vaping’s
fi ght for legitimacy and the promotion of harm reduction. There is little
doubt that India’s tobacco industry wields signifi cant power over the
nation’s government as the world’s third-largest producer of tobacco.
Around 45.7 million people rely on the tobacco industry for work,
with around £1bn worth of tobacco exported each year.
The Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) represents farmers across all
Indian states.
The union welcomed an outright ban on e-cigarettes, arguing that the
tobacco used for nicotine-extraction is grown abroad, so the country’s
tobacco farmers cannot profi t from it.
Jagjit Singh Dallewala of the BKU said in a statement:
“If e-cigarettes are allowed in India, it will have a devastating effect on
the tobacco farmers in India.
“The main reason is that the e-cigarette companies who are trying to
open shops in India are of foreign origin and do not use Indian tobacco.”
A number of developing countries rely heavily on growing tobacco.
The lack of profi table alternatives is often cited as a barrier for the
industry to be embraced in Africa.
US-driven vape panic aside, the Indian government is in a tricky position.
Sadly, India’s combustible tobacco users stand to lose the most if the
government continues to appease the powerful tobacco industry and
ignore the huge harm reduction potential that vaping presents.
The AVI’s Chowdhery said:
“The ordinance will put lives at risk. The haste shown by the
government in enacting a ban indicates it is more concerned about
protecting the cigarette industry than improving public health.”
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