E-cigarettes are a ‘drug’: health ministry finds way to ban the device

• The government is set to ban the manufacture, import and sale of e-cigarettes India as the health ministry considers it a drug.
  
• The ban will be imposed under the provisions of Section 26 (A) of Drug and Cosmetics Act, 1940.
  
• There are 460 brands of e-cigarettes in India which come in 7,700 different flavours.
  
• Banning e-cigarettes and related products is part of the government’s first “100 days agenda.”
  

E-Cigarettes are all set to banned in India as the health ministry considers it a drug and will soon release notification to effect, as per reports.

The central government was trying to ban the manufacture and sale of the e-cigarettes since last year. However, the rules of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act do not allow a ban though they can be regulated.

However, in a drug consultative committee meeting on June 1, experts finally found their way out. They classified it as a drug which allows them to ban it under the provisions of Section 26 (A) of Drugs and Cosmetics Act.

First Agenda

Banning e-cigarettes and other related products that use liquid nicotine solution and turn them to vapours through heat, which is finally inhaled by the user --- is a part of the new government’s first 100 days agenda.

E-cigarette makers market them as products which smokers quit the habit. However, most of them are illegal and operate without a licence.

“Regulatory measures to prevent the use of e-cigarettes are necessary. They are imported unlicensed products and are found to be widely sold online. The ministry is now considering to ban the product,” a health ministry official said.

E-cigarettes have become a fashion statement among the youth and others. They replace the commonly used cigarettes that use tobacco leaves.

Government data shows more than 460 e-cigarette brands are operating in India which provide different nicotine configurations. E-cigarettes are available in over 7,700 flavours in India.

The drug consultative meeting of the health ministry also noted that the electronic nicotine delivery systems includes e-cigarettes, heat-not burn devices, vape, e-shisha, e-nicotine, flavoured hookah, and similar products are used as a tobacco cessation products.