Banning E-Cigarettes Welcome, Why No Ban on Normal Cigarettes?

Banning E-Cigarettes Welcome, Why No Ban on Normal Cigarettes?

Letters to The EDITOR

The Central government has taken a welcome step in banning e-cigarettes citing one of the reasons that it is causing addiction amongst youngsters. But same is true for normal cigarettes also. Demands for banning manufacture and sale of cigarettes has been repeatedly raised. But unfortunately tobacco-lobby in India is so strong that it even managed super-powered Group of Ministers in earlier UPA regime to dilute area and design of pictorial-warnings on cigarette-packs against the wishes of the then Union Health Minister Dr A Ramadoss and officials of the Union Health Ministry. Proportion of pictorial-warning area on cigarette packs in India is the lowest in the world with Brazil even having 100-per cent area on both front and pack panels of cigarette packs. Pictorial warnings, however bigger or stringent, are totally useless and ineffective for smokers.

The only remedy is to follow countries like Bhutan and Ireland by imposing a complete ban on manufacture and sale of cigarettes in the country. Even family members of smokers will support such a bold step, because it is the family which suffers from death of persons caused by smoking. Smoking is an addiction started out of fashion at the young age when initial puffs even cause discomfort. Revenue loss from ban on cigarettes will be more than compensated by funds saved on tobacco-related diseases. If self-regulation is the policy to check human evils, then the Union Government should withdraw attempt-to-suicide from Indian Penal Code. Likewise using helmets by scooterists should also be made self-regulatory rather than forced as compulsory.

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