What are e-Cigarettes?

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in News?
• What Exactly is an e-Cigarette?
• How does an e-Cigarette Work?
• Are There Any Health Risks of Using E-Cigarette?
• What is the Ethical Dilemma of Using E-Cigarettes?
• News Summary with respect to the Use of e-Cigarettes in India

Why in News?

• More than three years after e-cigarettes were banned in the country (in 2019), a recent medical study found that educated youth are leading the vaping (smoking) habit.

What Exactly is an e-Cigarette?

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• E-cigarettes are the most common form of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), which are basically devices that do not burn or use tobacco leaves. 
• Instead, they vaporise a solution using a battery and this vapour is then inhaled by the user.
• The main constituents of the solution, in addition to nicotine, are propylene glycol, with or without glycerol and flavouring agents.
• While a faster, deeper puff increases nicotine delivery from a conventional cigarette, it might diminish it from e-cigarettes due to cooling of the heating element.​​​​​​

How does an e-Cigarette Work?

 

Image Caption: Working of e-Cigarette

Are There Any Health Risks of Using E-Cigarette?

• Once nicotine is used in the solution of an e-cigarette, the difference between it and a conventional cigarette blur.
• The use of nicotine solutions (a highly addictive substance) in e-cigarettes underlines the fact that they can be equally addictive as conventional cigarettes.
• In terms of health risks, the power of an e-cigarette to deliver nicotine determines how dangerous its use can be.
• Despite not being a carcinogen, nicotine has the potential to stimulate tumour growth. 
• According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), some solutions in e-Cigarettes and emissions from them are considered to be “toxicants“.

What is the Ethical Dilemma of Using e-Cigarettes?

• e-Cigarettes were introduced and popularised by forwarding the argument that they are effective in helping people quit smoking tobacco.
• However, there are no concrete large-scale studies to show their effectiveness in helping people quit smoking.

News Summary with respect to the Use of e-Cigarettes in India

What is the status of e-Cigarette use in India?

• In 2019, the central government informed Parliament that e-cigarettes worth USD 1,91,781 were imported in India between 2016-16 and 2018-19, mostly from China, US, Hong Kong and Germany. 
• Besides this, it estimates that between 2017 and 2018, e-cigarette use saw an increase of 78% among high school students and 48% among middle school students.
• The government of India through the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes (production, manufacture, import, export, transport, sale, distribution, storage and advertisement) Ordinance 2019, banned e-Cigarettes in India.
• Any production, manufacturing, import, etc., shall be a cognisable offence in India, punishable with an imprisonment of up to 1 year/fine up to Rs 1 lakh/both for the first offence.
• India, where 65% of the population is under 35 years of age, is one of the few countries that has completely banned the sale of e-cigarettes.
   

Highlights of the recent study on the use of e-Cigarettes in India

• Despite a ban in the country, educated youth (among 840 interviewed 23% had used) are among those who most used e-cigarettes.
• E-cigarettes are available through online stores and even some local vendors.
• Just under two-thirds of those who were aware of e-cigarettes believed them to be harmful and to contain chemicals. 
• Among non-users, 31% were curious about using e-cigarettes, and 23% intended to use them in the following year, indicating high levels of susceptibility.

What needs to be done to reduce uptake of e-Cigarettes?

Greater education about harms associated with vaping and more intensive monitoring and enforcement could assist in reducing uptake in relatively high-prevalence groups such as educated adults.

Q1) Why did India ban e-cigarettes?

India, where 65% of the population is under 35 years of age, is one of the few countries that has completely banned the sale of e-cigarettes in 2019. In 2019, e-cigarettes worth USD 1,91,781 were imported in India. Besides this, between 2017 and 2018, e-cigarette use saw an increase of 78% among high school students and 48% among middle school students.

Q2) Why e-Cigarettes are considered harmful?

Once nicotine is used in the solution of an e-cigarette, the difference between it and a conventional cigarette blur. The use of nicotine solutions makes it equally addictive as conventional cigarettes. Despite not being a carcinogen, nicotine has the potential to stimulate tumour growth.

Source: Educated youth leading users of e-Cigarettes, finds study | India Today

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0gXp7oQBmQ