A cross-sectional survey of 3000 smokers in 8 cities in India shows that the vast majority of e-cigarette users used to be traditional smokers, and they have successfully quit or reduced smoking by using e-cigarettes.
Last summer, the Federal Department of health formulated the electronic cigarette ban regulation 2019 for review, and passed a bill to replace it in leshaba in January 2020. The latter officially banned production, trade, transportation, storage and advertising throughout India.
At the same time, in line with numerous arguments from anti smoking and public health experts around the world, local doctors point out that governments should do more research before banning smoking. “The UK has data on e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation device, so the research in India should be carried out by the government and the who,” said Dr Bharat gopal, senior pulmonary physician and director of the Delhi National Chest center.
The project, entitled “tobacco patterns and e-cigarette use in India: a cross-sectional survey of 3000 vapers in eight Indian cities” aims to obtain data on the characteristics and tobacco behavior profiles of e-cigarette users in India.
An interview based survey was conducted in eight of India’s largest cities and a total of 3000 subjects were recruited. The eligibility criteria for participation are current e-cigarette users over the age of 18.
“A total of 3000 e-cigarette users (male 81.4%, female 18.6%, average age 29) participated in the study. Most people (80%) first contact nicotine through smoking, smokeless tobacco (SLT), or both. Most of the subjects (79%) thought that e-cigarette was less harmful than smoking. The vast majority of smokers (71.3%) reported smoking cessation (30.0%) or reduced tobacco use (41.3%) with the help of e-cigarettes. Similar changes were observed in SLT users. The researchers reported that after starting to use e-cigarettes, the subjects had little side effects and some health benefits.
The study concluded that the majority of smokers who participated in this study were mainly smokers and SLT users before they started using e-cigarettes, and most of them subsequently quit smoking or reduced smoking. After starting to use e-cigarettes, the side effects of the subjects were very small, and there were some health benefits.
At the same time, a recent report in India shows that despite the e-cigarette ban, people can still buy e-cigarettes from any paan (local tobacco) store or online. The only difference is that official brands and high-quality brands can no longer be found, so young e-cigarette users resort to cheap and low-quality versions.
According to the arguments of several public health experts, they insist that the inability to provide any product will only bring people to the black market. Samrat chowdhery of the e-cigarette Association of India says that all countries that ban e-cigarettes, including Mexico, Brazil and Thailand, see a booming black market.
“Because all other forms of nicotine are available, it is difficult to enforce the regulations. Formal participants in the production of e-cigarettes are withdrawing from the market. Once the black market industry gains a foothold, it is impossible to gain control. The government has missed an opportunity to regulate these products. ” He said.
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