Smoking in India
Smoking is legally allowed in India but there exist some specific restrictions. Under these regulations, cigarettes are permitted for sale and can be legally purchased online, while sales through vending machines are not permitted. The importation of cigarettes for trade is allowed with a license. Health warnings on cigarette packaging are required, the minimum legal age for purchase is 18 years, and there are legal restrictions on smoking in public places. Advertising of cigarettes is regulated, which bans all types of advertising. Cigarettes are subject to a specific excise value of 28.92% and a total taxation rate of 57.60%. The current prevalence of smoking among adults aged 15 years and older in Inida was reported to be 9.3% in 2024, reflecting an increase from 8.1% in 2020. The current smoking prevalence among adult males was significantly higher with 16.7% in 2024, compared to 1.4% among adult females that year. This gender disparity has been consistent, as in 2020, the prevalence among males was 14.4% and 1.40% among females. The total number of smokers in 2024 was approximately 100,2 million individuals, showing an increase from 80,481,112 in 2020. Smoking-related mortality remains a significant health concern in India, with 1,048,266 recorded deaths in 2021. This accounts for 8.92% of all deaths in the country. Of these deaths, 233,679 were female deaths, representing 4.59% of all female deaths, while 814,587 were male deaths, accounting for 12.23% of all male deaths. These data underscore the ongoing public health challenges posed by tobacco smoking in India, highlighting the necessity for effective public health measures to reduce smoking prevalence and its associated mortalities.
Read articles from India
December 05, 2023 by tribune.com.pk
E-cigarettes : New addiction of choice for youth
PESHAWAR: Vaping is the new cool, regardless of how injurious it might be to health, and teenagers and adults alike, in Peshawar, are hooked to the flavoured nicotine electronic devices. Traditionally referred to as e-cigarettes but now known by various names such as disposables, vapes, and tank systems, electronic nicotine delivery system have become a common sight in Khyber Pakthunkhwa’s capital; so much so that nearly every major shopping centre in the city has a dedicated vape store - much to the dismay of concerned parents.
November 15, 2023 by indiatimes.com
Teachers against vaping: E-cigarettes to impact the educational environment and impede cognitive development of students
NEW DELHI: Teachers from leading schools across India on Children’s Day wrote to the ministry of education to raise awareness about the adverse effects of electronic cigarettes in all forms and educate teachers, parents and children about the recent clarifications in law which ban manufacture, sale and even possession of these devices. The teachers expressed their concern over tobacco companies disseminating misleading information that portrays new-age e-cigarettes as either harmless or less harmful in comparison to smoking traditional cigarettes.
October 17, 2023 by indiatoday.in
Can a low-nicotine tobacco plant benefit smokers?
For smokers trying to quit but with little success, news that genetic science may have come up with a tobacco plant with 60-70 per cent less nicotine is nothing short of a dream come true. [...] the institute discovered a biosynthetic pathway for nicotine in the root of the tobacco plant, which is what synthesises nicotine and transports it to the leaves used in cigarettes. By regulating this pathway or completely blocking it, the amount of nicotine being transported to the leaves can be altered.
August 29, 2023 by sundayguardianlive.com
‘India needs to rethink its tobacco laws’
A seasoned lawmaker has said India needs to seriously take a relook at its tobacco laws, and those relating to e-cigarettes and heated tobacco because the health ministry’s ban on e-cigarettes is a missed public health opportunity. MV Rajeev Gowda, vice-chairperson, State Institute for Transformation of Karnataka and former Rajya Sabha member strongly feels e-cigarettes could have been an option to help smokers wean themselves off tobacco in India, the world’s second largest consumer of tobacco.
August 03, 2023 by indianexpress.com
India tops ‘no tobacco’ labelling, says WHO. But what about second-hand smoking?
Hundreds of enforcement drives, putting up ‘No Smoking’ signs, and communication about the effects of smoking as well as second-hand smoke resulted in a 27 per cent reduction in smoking in public places in Bengaluru. Earlier this year, the city received international recognition for its efforts, said a case study in the recently released report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on the implementation of tobacco control measures.
July 28, 2023 by thehindu.com
Tobacco is bad for health, but cultivators won’t shun the crop
Tobacco consumption - in the form of smoking or chewing - has been linked with multiple serious health issues. But cultivation of tobacco also happens to be the source of livelihood for thousands of farmers, particularly in Mysuru and parts of adjoining Hassan district.
Over the last seven years, the area under tobacco cultivation in Mysuru is believed to have come down from 80,000 hectares to around 65,000 hectares with farmers making a switch to other alternative crops
July 21, 2023 by indiatimes.com
Health Ministry asks states to report violations of e-cigarette ban on its portal
The Centre has asked states to report on its portal information on the availability of e-cigarettes on online shopping sites and retail shops despite a ban on it since 2019. The Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes (Production, Manufacture, Import, Export, Transport, Sale, Distribution, Storage and Advertisement) Act (PECA) came into force in 2019. There seems to be a lack of awareness about the portal which was launched in May, an official source said, [...]
July 10, 2023 by sundayguardianlive.com
Do you know the real, inside story of e-cigarettes?
A newly published book, “E-Cigarettes and the Comparative Politics of Harm Reduction: History, Evidence and Policy”, has offered some serious arguments about benefits of vaping and the troubles of tobacco.
The book has made policymakers of health in India sit up and take notice, ostensibly because public health campaigners in India and some parts of the world have routinely used fear campaigns to highlight risks of e-cigarettes. They have rarely attacked tobacco manufacturers. Such is the power of the campaign that in Australia, opposition to e-cigarettes has become something of a moral crusade against youth vaping and smoking.
June 15, 2023 by business-standard.com
Over 60% youth in India are susceptible to e-cigarettes, shows report
Almost 61 per cent of people aged between 15-30 in India who have never used electronic cigarettes (e-cigarette) before are susceptible to taking up vaping in the future, according to a new study.
The study, based on an international survey of 4,007 people, including 456 from across India, identified exposure to e-cigarette advertising as having the second greatest effect on susceptibility, after current or past tobacco use, while perceived harmfulness reduced the likelihood of susceptibility.
May 12, 2023 by tribuneindia.com
E-cigarettes equally harmful: Health experts
The use of e-cigarettes is equally harmful as these cause numerous diseases, affecting mostly the lungs. This was stated by health experts [...] They said the manufacturing, sale and consumption of the product was banned in the country.
Dr Jivanjot Kaur, Nodal Officer of National Tobacco Control Program-cum-District Dental Health Officer, said some people were under the impression that e-cigarettes were comparatively safe as compared to other cigarettes, which was not true.
“These e-cigarettes produce nicotine, which is highly addictive and other harmful chemicals which are bad for health,” she said, [...]