Category: India

“This is the most significant independent survey we’ve seen coming out of India since its 2019 vaping ban. It shows an overwhelming call for the Government to lift the ban and regulate access to safer nicotine products,” says Nancy Loucas, Executive Coordinator of the Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA).

Her comments follow the release of a ‘Survey of Current & Former Smoke-Free Product Users: India’ conducted by Povaddo – a firm specializing in global public opinion research. The survey was commissioned by consumer advocacy group, Fact Asia.

“India’s government must urgently reconsider its vaping ban which is clearly not working. Indians continue to seek alternatives to smoking, but they’re forced back to smoking or into the black market with unregulated vaping products. It’s a terrible public health predicament for the people of the populous sub-continent,” says Ms Loucas.

The latest Povaddo survey confirms a huge push for India’s government to instead adopt a Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) approach. Conducted from 30 August to 7 September 2021, the survey involved 2,000 respondents throughout India – all current and former legal-age smoke-free users.

Nearly nine out of 10 respondents – or 86% – believe products like e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products are a better alternative to cigarettes. Further, 87% believe alternative products like e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products should be just as accessible to adult smokers as regular cigarettes.

Such equal access could lead to fewer smokers. Of current cigarette or other tobacco product users, 92% say they would consider switching to a smoke-free alternative product if it were legal, met quality and safety standards, and were conveniently available.

A staggering 95% of respondents believe the government should come up with new ways to reduce the harm caused by smoking cigarettes, with 81% of current and former users of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products believing the government should remove the ban on these products.

The survey also confirmed the ban’s total ineffectiveness. Following India’s 2019 prohibition of safer smoke-free products, most users didn’t stop using the products. In fact, 85% of all respondents reported being smoke-free users both before and after the ban. Dual users are also prolific in India with 92% of current smoke-free product users also using cigarettes.

“Ignoring the evidence, India’s government adopted the World Health Organization’s (WHO) poisoned anti-vaping advice, and now its people are paying a huge price. In the past two years, Indians have been forced to either return to deadly smoking, consume unregulated street vapes, or both! While such outcomes were sadly predictable, it’s not too late. We’re calling on India’s government to closely review this survey’s extensive findings and repeal its failed vaping ban,” she says.

CAPHRA says India leads the pack in Asia Pacific on how to do THR health policies badly, with Thailand, Australia, and Hong Kong not far behind.

This comes despite India being home to 12% of the world’s smokers. Approximately 34.6% of adult Indians are smokers, with nearly 1.35 million Indians dying every year from smoking-related illnesses.

“Despite India’s appalling track record on smoking, it was truly outrageous the WHO gave India’s Health Minister, Dr Harsh Vardhan, a special award this year for banning considerably less harmful e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products,” says Heneage Mitchell, Founding Director of Fact Asia.

“Both the WHO and India’s government claim they’ve done so well controlling tobacco consumption, but it’s now crystal-clear things have only got worse since the vaping ban. We are proud to have shone some light on India’s epic failure by commissioning this large independent survey,” says Mr Mitchell.

Nancy Loucas: “Rather than blindly following the WHO’s corrupted and unqualified advice, India’s government should introduce progressive risk-proportionate vaping legislation such as New Zealand adopted last year, and Filipino Senators are considering now. That’s how you reduce smoking-related illnesses and deaths. Bans don’t work and now we have more proof.

“Not only has India’s government succumbed to the WHO’s lies, but it has allowed the likes of American billionaire Michael Bloomberg to influence its domestic health policies. India didn’t so fight hard for its independence in 1947 to now stand back and have foreign entities meddle with its government and people,” says Ms Loucas.

Latest research proving anti-tobacco billionaire foundations have funnelled millions into Asia Pacific NGOs to lobby governments to ban vaping, and discredit vaping advocates, has received worldwide press attention. To view the full findings and money trails, visit:https://www.24shareupdates.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Clarisse-Virgino-Research-with-IRS-returns-98.pdf

To view the Indian survey’s summary of findings, please visit: http://www.factasia.org/powerpoint_survey_presentation

Now live and boasting over 14,000 testimonials, CAPHRA is calling on those who’ve quit cigarettes through smoke-free nicotine alternatives to tell their story on www.righttovape.org

Consumer groups in the Asia Pacific region have also launched a petition at change.org/v4v-petition. It urges the WHO to respect consumer rights and to stop demonizing THR options ahead of the Ninth Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP9) to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in November.

For a free digital media repository on tobacco harm reduction in Asia Pacific – including media releases, images and graphics – please visithttps://apthrmedia.org

On September 29th, India ministry of finance announced that they would announce a total ban on electronic cigarettes, including production, manufacturing, import and export, transportation, sale, storage and advertising, as the United States electronic cigarette death cases continued to emerge.

However, early this morning, we received relevant information from the advocaters, saying that in addition to the Ministry of finance, the government also supported the ban on electronic cigarettes because the local government believed that the supporters of electronic cigarettes had no incentive to protest, so they did not intend to withdraw the idea of prohibiting electronic cigarettes for the time being.

After receiving the news, we made inquire about the news of the electronic cigarette shop, but local businessmen said it was not clear at the time of the government ban. Only an official disclosed to him yesterday that the government had no plan to cancel the ban on electronic cigarettes because the protest activities of the vapers were lacking in support.

This has affected the nationwide electronic cigarette users, as well as the sales plan of Juul Labs and PMI, and the government may face the litigation challenge of the tobacco giant.

According to reports, protesters yesterday called for the regulation of electronic cigarette rather than prohibition. But the organizers of the India electronic cigarette association said that only about 400 people were present in six cities, and some opponents of the ban were worried about being targeted by the police.

In the protests in the capital New Delhi, several users used electronic cigarettes. Among them sat a child, which read, “I don’t want my father to smoke”.

While the government believes that the ban is essential to protect people, because atomization can lead to nicotine addiction and may encourage users to use cigarettes, the protestors say the devices can actually help them stay away from more harmful traditional tobacco products.

The government estimates that 900 thousand people die each year from tobacco related diseases. More than 100 million adult smokers, second only to China, are a lucrative potential market for companies selling tobacco and vape products.

A India Ministry of health official said that despite protests and court challenges, the government remained resolutely abiding by the ban. “There is no room to discuss the lifting of the ban.”

In the eastern cities, the court is also facing crucial challenges, including whether it can continue to enforce the ban. A document issued by Plume Vapour, a local electronic cigarette importer, shows that if the government persists in implementing the ban, the ban will flourish tobacco industry, while electronic cigarette related enterprises will be closed down.

In an interview with Reuters, 25 year old New Delhi protestor Aryaman Chaudhary said he had stored a lot of carts and e-liquid before the ban was issued, but it would eventually run out. “I just hope that e-cigarettes are regulated products, not banned.”

On the other hand, we reported a few days ago that the government owns nearly 1/3 of the country’s large size tobacco companies, and the government basically owns all the local tobacco stocks. After the exposure of the Minister of finance, the ITC shares held by the government rose to 1800 rupees, which indirectly confirmed that the strike against the electronic cigarette industry would help.

As far as the current situation is concerned, the electronic cigarette market is not optimistic, and the local electronic cigarette enterprises may have to face a more severe and long-term struggle. As for the relevant enterprises that focus on the development of the India market, whether the ban will be introduced in the near future, we suggest related companies to get ready to avoid the impact on foreign trade caused by India policy.

Since the announcement on September 18 that the production, sale and import of electronic cigarettes will be completely banned, the Indian government has succumbed to lawsuits, and it is not a lawsuit, but two.

On September 26, the High Court of Calcutta in the eastern city of India heard two cases against the Indian government to issue an e-cig ban. This is the first time the Indian government got sued after banning the sale of electronic cigarettes this month.

According to a Reuters report on September 27, one of the lawsuits filed in the High Court of Calcutta was an e-cigarette importer and the other was an e-cigarette company.

The plaintiff’s lawyer, Abysek Manu Singhwei, said that the government’s ban involves legal issues and is arbitrary and excessive.

India is a developing country. At present, we don’t have much understanding of the legal environment in India. While we don’t know if this accusation will finally win, the High Court of Calcutta in the eastern Indian city is willing to handle it, which is also a huge improvement, indicating that the Indian government can’t do anything at its own will.

The United States is still investigating, and has not yet issued a report that proves that it is related to e-cigarettes. The information currently known is not directly related to e-cigarettes. India has come directly to make a one-size-fits-all ban: after the ban is announced, any vaping production, manufacturing, import, export, transportation, sales (including online sales), distribution, advertising (including online advertising) are all crimes.

The first violation of the ban will result in a maximum imprisonment of one year or a fine of 100,000 rupees (about $1500), or both. The recidivist is sentenced to a maximum of three years’ imprisonment and a fine of 500,000 rupees (about $7000).

The authority is too lazy to think about more. Or there should be some tobacco companies laughing loud behind the scene.

The reason for the total ban on e-cigarettes is to consider for young people, “Let our citizens, the health of our young people no longer take risks.” In fact, everyone who knows that this reason cannot withstand scrutiny and is hypocritical.

There are approximately 106 million smokers in India, and more than 900,000 people die each year from diseases associated with tobacco. If you really think about adolescents, you should regulate the development of e-cigarettes and prohibit sales to minors. If you think about smokers, you should learn from the UK, study e-cigarettes, and strongly support the development of e-cigarettes.

Related: India bans e-cigarette sales and says there’s an ‘epidemic’ of kids vaping