Srinagar, July 26: E-cigarettes continue to be sold on e-commerce platforms, including to youngsters under the age of 18 in Kashmir, despite the prohibition enforced by the Union government in 2019.
The Ministry of Health has opened a website where people may report infractions of the law prohibiting the production, manufacture, import, export, transportation, sale, distribution, storage, and advertising of electronic cigarettes (PECA) in an effort to reduce their use.
According to the news source Kashmir News Observer (KNO), health experts have confirmed that e-cigarettes are still being sold online, despite the prohibition. Some retailers, we were told, are also participating in the deals.
The government, according to an official, is taking many measures to entirely prohibit the sale of electronic cigarettes.
Dr. Mir Mushtaq, the state tobacco control cell’s nodal officer, told KNO that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had created a portal for reporting violations related to the online sale of e-cigarettes, and that the Tobacco Control Unit in Srinagar had integrated a website with the portal.
He promised that if anybody reported a breach of this policy, whether online or offline, action would be done. The website to do so is www.jktcp.com.
He said that anybody may follow a simple 5-step online procedure to report the infraction, and that they can even attach a snapshot of the relevant e-commerce site.
Dr Mushtaq said that whenever someone reports a violation, they would be assigned a unique ID that will allow them to monitor the progress of their complaint and see what, if any, action has been done.
It’s safe and anonymous, he assured me, and it’ll do a lot to stop the distribution of electronic cigarettes.
Battery-operated electronic cigarettes and related devices heat a nicotine- and flavoring-laced liquid or solid to form an inhalable aerosol.
Since the use of electronic cigarettes has been on the rise among young people and has been linked to a number of health problems, the government of the Union has banned them. This ban applies to all varieties of electronic cigarettes, heat not burn products, e-hookahs, and similar devices, regardless of their brand names, sizes, shapes, or packaging.
Aerosol released by electronic cigarettes is inhaled by the user and may include nicotine and other toxins. Diacetyl, a common flavouring ingredient, is a chemical associated to severe lung illness and ultrafine particles are to be breathed deep into the lungs—(KNO).
