Laws permit use of two milligrams of nicotine, that too only for chewable chocolates, to help with de-addiction, and e-cigarette manufacturers misuse this clause for their sale, the minister said.
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However, top tobacco experts criticized the research stating that the author of the research is radically misinterpreting the outcomes of the paper and the study itself is puzzled, implying that its outcomes are highly dubious.
There is nothing preventing smokers from trying e-cigarettes instead of the cigarettes they use, but data from many sources show they try them and don’t continue and those who continue on smoke more cigarettes.
Despite these findings, and the lack of substantial evidence, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently ordered e-cigarettes and VNPs to be classified and regulated in the same fashion as tobacco products.
This suggests that young people are actually being encouraged by e-cigarettes not to smoke the tobacco cigarettes. They argue that e-cigarettes are less harmful (and in some cases claim they are completely harmless) than combustion cigarettes. In theory, this can imply that the 150 children in question might have not taken a single drag of the e-cig. However, there is evidence that individuals who never smoked cigarettes but used e-cigarettes are more likely to begin actual cigarette smoking afterward. The report is providing needed evidence in favor of the general perception of e-cigarettes and vaporized nicotine products (VNPs) as effective tobacco-harm-reduction products. Under the current rate, the tax would be $2.70; under the measure, it would increase to $8.30. The police also seized tobacco products worth several thousand rupees from shops. Scientific studies have shown that vapor products are considered a minimum of 95 percent less harmful than tobacco.
Health Minister U T Khader said a circular specifying that the ban will come into effect immediately has been issued.
“What’s probably happening is these kids did not become regular vapers, (and) they turned to smoking”, Siegel said. In the coming days, joint raids with teams from the public health and civic body would be conducted, police added.
To participate, smokers can call the state’s Tobacco Quitline.
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E-cigarettes can’t be seen as a treatment even though they are promoted on such grounds, said Dr Upendra Bhojani, a faculty member at the Institute of Public Health. While this study supports the danger of using e-cigarettes, generalization is limited by the tight geographic region of the sample.
