Thread by @LightZoom

A lot of chatter about #ecigarettes today after FM Nirmala Sitharaman's press briefing.

However, most of the people have no idea about #ecigarettes. Here's a lengthy thread about what ecigarettes are and how do they affect India.

Today, the Indian Cabinet approved Promulgation of the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Ordinance. Basically, they want to ban #ecigarettes. A lot of people are celebrating the ban without even knowing what ecigarettes are. So what are they? Let's educate ourselves.

An #ecigarette is actually a vaporizer which simulates smoking without any actual burning or smoke. The popular term for using it is known as 'vaping'. The device itself has 3 important parts, the battery, vaporizer and tank/cartridge which holds the vape liquid.

The liquid, know as 'juice' is made of 3 main ingredients, Vegetable Glycerine, Propylene Glycol (both used in various food products & medications) and flavours. The 4th optional ingredient is nicotine usually used in much lower quantities than in conventional cigarettes.

Both VG and PG are safe and hence used in various food products, pharmaceuticals (including asthma inhalers) since several years. Flavours used are also food grade flavours. Which leaves us with nicotine. Nicotine is addictive.

Now, let's come to conventional cigarettes. Conventional cigarettes produce over 7000 chemical compounds when burnt, most of which are harmful. More than 70 of these are known to cause cancer.

fda.gov/tobacco-produc…

In case of #ecigarettes, if the juice one is using is bought from a trusted manufacturer, the only compounds in it are VG, PG, compounds in your flavour, and nicotine. This is an important point.

If they are so safe, then what about the diseases and deaths, which the FM mentioned, you ask. Well, according to several documented reports in the international media, they are because of juices consisting of illicit chemicals bought from the black market.

These juices consist of tainted drugs and chemicals, often used by spurious sellers to reduce costs. These chemicals or additives are unsafe, unknown, and unregulated. If vaping is regulated, instead of being banned, this wouldn't happen.

"The one thing in common is that every single one had obtained [the vape] from a pop-up shop, or a stranger, or a friend of a friend," Teske says. "No one had obtained it from a licensed dispensary."

webmd.com/mental-health/…

But the media hypes up the whole thing and creates a picture that Vaping causes lung diseases. But that's the equivalent of saying food causes food poisoning finding the exact problem.

cei.org/blog/lung-dise…

Does that imply that vaping is safe. No, not implying that. And, long-term usage effects are yet to be known. But according to various reports, they are 95 per cent less harmful than regular cigarettes.

bhf.org.uk/informationsup…

Lastly, it is well researched that smoking is very difficult to quit because of it being highly addictive. However, #ecigarettes have been found to be the most effective way to quit smoking according to various research.

nhs.uk/oneyou/for-you…

The Govt., by banning #ecigarettes have done so without any research in the impact of doing so. During the press conference, a member also shamelessly said that the ban will lead to increase in tobacco revenue.

With regards to the concern for the youth of India, it's not at all wise to ban a product that is 95% safer and not ban cigarettes that are easily available everywhere for cheap. All this in a country where there are 10mn tobacco deaths.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoking_i…

And bans always lead to black markets, thereby increasing consumption and sale of illicit and spurious products, which will result in endangering lives of our citizens.

cbc.ca/radio/checkup/…

Does the Tobacco Lobby have to do anything with this?

Finally, I urge all citizens to do your own research before hailing or criticizing the government's decision.