Health Ministry proposes to ban electronic smoking devices by classifying them as 'drugs'

Going tough on Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), including e-cigarettes, the health ministry has proposed to classify such alternative smoking devices as "drugs" under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, in a bid to ban their manufacture, sale, distribution and import.

According to official sources, the proposal has been approved by the Drug Technical Advisory Board (DTAB), the government's top advisory body on technical matters related to medicines in the country.

The move comes amid a raging debate over the harm-reduction aspects of ENDS.

Some organisations claim that these devices help in smoking cessation and are less harmful alternatives to traditional cigarettes, while the government is seeking to ban them contending they pose health risks to users, similar to those of conventional cigarettes.

ENDS are devices that heat a solution to create an aerosol, which also frequently contains flavours, usually dissolved into propylene glycol and glycerin.

There are various types of ENDS devices like e-cigarettes, heat-not-burn devices, vape, e-sheesha, e-nicotine flavoured hookah among others.

Indian drug regulator, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), under the health ministry has proposed that manufacture, sale and distribution of ENDS, including e-cigarettes and similar products, should be prohibited under Section 26A of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, while their import should be outlawed under Section 10A of the legislation.

The proposal stated that under the provisions of 'drugs' in the Act, any item intended to be used as an aid to help quit smoking is covered under the definition of drugs.

Various drugs have been approved as aid for smoking cessation under the provisions of the Act and its rules, a source said while elaborating on the proposal.

According to the proposal, "After revisiting its earlier deliberations, the Drugs Consultative Committee has recommended that since ENDS and the like products are used as a tobacco cessation product and function for nicotine delivery for reasons including nicotine de-addiction, hence these devices and product fall under the definition of 'drug' as defined under section 3(b) of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940."