No Smoking Day: India’s e-cigarette ban goes up in smoke as vape sale persists

Vaping is perceived as the cooler cousin of smoking, yet that is not true, as its negative effects on health testify. Despite being banned in India, why does vaping see an uptick among the urban youth?

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DESPITE India's ban on e-cigarettes and their health consequences, vaping continues to be a style statement. Offering readily accessible Chinese vapes, paan shops and hookah stores in the capital openly defy the prohibition. This 'No Smoking Day', it is essential to address the sale of illegal e-cigarettes as well as the practice of vaping.

Vaping as a style statement

Being around a GenZ person makes it hard to miss a pen-drive-like device that is popular as a convenient and smell-free substitute for smoking. Vapes are undoubtedly the 'cool' style statement in town.

A study, Adolescents and E-cigarettes in India: A Qualitative Study of Perceptions and Practices, published by the National Library of Medicine in September 2022, throws light upon vaping culture amongst adolescents and concludes that e-cigarettes are perceived as relatively harmless because adolescents are unaware of their negative health effects.

"Initiation was influenced by a friend, peer or sibling. A variety of flavours, the after-taste, the ability to perform playful tricks with the smoke, and fun time spent with friends were cited as reasons for continued use," the study mentions.

The e-cigarette ban and its breach

Ironically, e-cigarettes are banned in India by the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes (Production, Manufacture, Import, Export, Transport, Sale, Distribution, Storage, and Advertisement) Act, 2019. But accessing Chinese brands like IGET, Vapesoul and DYB has never been easier.

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Defence Colony's main market houses four adjoining hookah shops that sell everything from cigarettes and shisha to paan and vapes. The shops are subject to regular visits and even raids by the police, says Rohit, who has taken one of the shops on rent. Even the raids do not deter them from selling the banned devices.

The shopkeepers in the market know that vapes are illegal and banned in India, but continue to sell them. They say that they sell e-cigarettes because nothing else sells.

"If we stop selling vapes, we would have to entirely shut down our shops as there would be no earning," another shopkeeper anonymously adds.

The shopkeepers of the hookah shops at Defence Colony also allege that they have been selling vapes only for the last three months, while customers say something in stark contrast.

A 21-year-old student of Delhi University anonymously says that she has regularly purchased vapes from the shops since 2022. The shopkeepers also claim that they keep only a couple of pieces of vapes at the shop, but cartons taken out when a customer asks for a vape suggest otherwise.

A paan shop at Kamla Nagar's Bungalow Road used to keep vapes and e-cigarettes openly available at their shop. Manoj Kumar, who has taken the shop on rent, says, "We were not aware of vapes being illegal, we only got to know about this very recently." He mentions that since then, his shop has stopped the sale of vapes.

Kumar adds that they arrange vapes on order now, which implies that the vapes are still available but are simply hidden from the eye. He says that they source e-cigarettes from salesmen.

With IGET being the most sought-after brand, the price of vapes ranges between ₹1,000 and ₹3,500. The devices are available in a plethora of flavors— everything from 'peach ice' to 'plain coffee'. With up to 7,000 puffs, they either have refillable pods or are electrically chargeable.

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A study published by the National Library of Medicine in January 2023 titled E-Cigarettes: A Continuing Public Health Challenge In India Despite Comprehensive Bans has examined the behavior of educated young adults towards e-cigarettes.

India has introduced comprehensive e-cigarette bans focused on protecting youth from vaping-related harm, despite which young people are able to access e-cigarettes in India.

Educated young people are more likely to vape. According to the research, 23 percent of respondents reported ever using e-cigarettes while 8 percent of e-cigarette users reported daily use. Vapers source e-cigarettes from retail outlets and their social networks.

How vapes work and the health effects of vaping

E-cigarettes or electronic nicotine delivery system devices function by heating a liquid to produce an aerosol that is inhaled by the user.

The liquid contains multiple substances including nicotine, flavoring agents and cooling agents. It also includes heavy metals such as nickel, tin and lead. The tetrahydrocannabinol in the liquid is responsible for the 'high'.

Dr Siddarth Taneja, a pulmonologist at the Maharaja Agrasen Hospital, Punjabi Bagh, Delhi, says that he has treated a few cases that arose because of vaping.

"Vaping can cause pulmonary fibrosis, bronchitis and injury to the lung tissue. All of these along with chest and trachea infections can lead to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease," he explains. 

The presence of nicotine in e-cigarettes also raises the heart rate and blood pressure, significantly increasing the risk of a heart attack.

Owing to frequent usage and its nicotine content, vaping can become an addiction that is difficult to combat.

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"The addiction to nicotine has to be reduced by decreasing the dose of nicotine. In order to make the patient quit, we offer nicotine patches and gums in a controlled manner.

"We encourage the patient to stop vaping as they should not have the urge to go and purchase another vape," Dr Taneja mentions.

He also says that if the patient still does not quit smoking, doctors take a psychiatrist's help to ensure compliance.

The illegal sale of vapes, contemporary vaping culture and its toxic effects on health all call for urgent action towards the demand and supply sides this No Smoking Day.

Public awareness campaigns, stricter enforcement of bans and systematic support to those wanting to quit may prevent vaping from becoming a massive health challenge in India.