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‘Ban on e-cigarettes to reduce safer choices for smokers’
Why it is in news?
- The Council for Harm Reduced Alternatives (CHRA), a national tobacco harm reduction organisation, and the Association of Vapers India (AVI), an advocacy group that represents e-cigarette users, have warned the Central and State governments about the consequences of banning e-cigarettes.
- They said that a ban would deprive millions of smokers of safer choices and cause damage to public health.
‘Regressive attempt’
- CHRA said it is unfortunate that the government is mulling banning e-cigarettes, “which are 95% less harmful compared to tobacco cigarettes”.
- Harm reduction is a concept we apply in our everyday lives by opting for safer products, be it refined oil or less-polluting cars.
- In tobacco use, too, the lives of users can be positively impacted with harm-reduced alternatives.
- The government has so far relied on an emotional appeal to persuade tobacco users to kick the habit, but never offered an alternative beyond gums and patches, that have a very low success rate.
- An attempt to ban e-cigarettes is regressive given that the government’s stated policy is to provide wider choices to consumers for all products and services, and not restrict them.
‘Premature idea’
- The idea of banning e-cigarettes is premature, given that no study has been conducted by our health organisations on the health impact of vaping.
- Meanwhile, multiple peer-reviewed scientific studies in the U.K. and elsewhere have convinced health experts and governments to encourage smokers to switch to vaping.
- The hurry to ban e-cigarettes is not understandable.
- E-cigarettes are not only less harmful compared to tobacco cigarettes, but also help smokers wean off the nicotine dependence.
- vaping poses far lower risk to bystanders than passive smoking.
- Regulatory permission for the use of e-cigarettes in developed countries like the U.S., E.U. and the U.K. has yielded positive results, with smoking rates falling in these countries in recent years.
Source
The Hindu