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
April 14, 2023 by indiatimes.com
India needs evidence-based harm reduction strategies: Dr. Peter Harper
There are estimated to be over 1.1 billion smokers today, of which more than 100 million are in India – more than any country in the world outside China. Smoking cessation policies and programs generally present smokers with two unpleasant options; quit or die. A third approach to tobacco harm reduction involves using alternative sources of nicotine, including modern smokeless tobacco products. [...] Dr. Peter Harper, a renowned Physician and Medical Oncologist, recognized for his work in developing new anti-cancer and vaccine therapies, highlights the need for evidence-based harm reduction strategies to help achieve India’s tobacco control goals.
April 05, 2023 by nationalheraldindia.com
Despite ban, e-cigarettes widely available at tobacco shops, sold without age verification: Survey
E-cigarettes are easily available at tobacco shops and sold to anyone without any age verification, the findings of a joint survey have revealed.
The findings have been shared with the Union health ministry.
The survey conducted across six states, Assam, Goa, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana, as well as Delhi also found that e-cigarettes get delivered within a couple of days when ordered online [...] and are sold without any age verification. Also, most of the vendors are not aware that e-cigarettes have been banned by law and are openly selling those, and the e-cigarettes that are being sold are mostly manufactured in China, [...]
October 06, 2022 by thehindu.com
Provide smokers option to switch to less harmful products, says CPPR
CPPR chairman Dr. D Dhanuraj said the regulations of e-cigarettes can be framed in a manner that balances the potential use of e-cigarettes as new technology
Kerala-based Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR), an independent public policy organisation, on Tuesday, urged the Union government to provide an alternative to cigarette smokers to switch to some less harmful products. The CPPR, which released a White Paper on regulatory regimes for novel tobacco and nicotine products, called upon the government to take on a "multi-dimensional and scientific evidence-backed stance" in adopting harm reduction alternatives for the betterment of its citizens.
September 28, 2022 by indiatoday.in
Doctors explain how passive smoking increases chances of heart diseases
Passive smoking simply means being near a smoker and inhaling the smoke they exhale, while also taking in a whiff of the burnt part of the cigarette. While active smoking is associated with various heart diseases, passive smoking, too, has harmful effects on the heart and the lungs. [...] doctors explain how second-hand or passive smoking can be detrimental and increase the chances of stroke in a person. In fact, medical practitioners reveal the various kinds of stroke among younger people due to passive smoking have been quite prevalent in the country.
September 01, 2022 by filtermag.org
Life as a Vaping Advocate Under India’s Prohibition
In late 2019, the Indian government issued a ban on vaping products. The ordinance, originally announced by the finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, and passed by parliament months later, not only disallows the sale, manufacturing, and distribution of e-cigarettes, but also their importation, exportation, transport, storage and advertisement. Sitharaman couched the move with the usual context—youth were experimenting with them too much, or at least would do so—and even said that “unfortunately, e-cigarettes got promoted initially as a way in which people can get out of the habit of smoking cigarettes.”
August 02, 2022 by filtermag.org
Life as a Vaping Advocate Under India’s Prohibition
In late 2019, the Indian government issued a ban on vaping products. The ordinance, originally announced by the finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, and passed by parliament months later, not only disallows the sale, manufacturing, and distribution of e-cigarettes, but also their importation, exportation, transport, storage and advertisement.
Sitharaman couched the move with the usual context—youth were experimenting with them too much, or at least would do so—and even said that “unfortunately, e-cigarettes got promoted initially as a way in which people can get out of the habit of smoking cigarettes.” [...]
March 28, 2022 by scmp.com
Banning public smoking indoors in the Philippines: could it help 17 million people kick the habit?
Anti-tobacco advocates have for years pushed for a “tobacco endgame”, where young people will be banned from ever buying cigarettes in their lifetimes. New Zealand got the ball rolling when it announced its intention to gradually raise the minimum smoking age, so that it would be illegal for anyone born after 2008 to buy cigarettes. Singapore said New Zealand’s proposal was “attractive”, while Malaysia said it was mulling a plan to ban the sale of tobacco products to people born after 2005. This Week in Asia takes a look at discussions on kicking the habit in Malaysia, India and the Philippines.
February 28, 2022 by businesstoday.in
Good public policy: How to take harm reduction measures without misguided bans?
While the world is embracing science, innovation, and safety at the heart of policy making, India still lags far behind. India has a strange affinity to ban products and services cursorily, mostly on political or moral considerations rather than delving into available empirical evidence recognized globally. Resultantly, Indian consumers are denied the freedom to choose products and services which are available to consumers elsewhere in the world. Consumers mostly do not find representation in the decision-making process, which leads to framing and adoption of ineffective policies which may be doing more harm than good.
January 21, 2022 by indiatimes.com
Launch crackdown on smuggled cigarettes: Farmers body FAIFA appeals Andhra Pradesh government
Expressing anguish over steep increase in the volume of sale of smuggled cigarettes in the state, Federation of All India Farmers Associations (FAIFA) has appealed to the state government to launch a crackdown on the sellers. The FAIFA said that illegal sale of unauthorised cigarettes is not only causing huge loss to the exchequer but also affecting the incomes of the tobacco farmers in AP.
[...] “Tobacco in AP generates enormous economic benefits in terms of agricultural employment, farm incomes, revenue generation and foreign exchange earnings. India is the world’s 2nd largest producer and exporter of tobacco [...]
December 03, 2021 by indiatimes.com
Are bans good public policy in India?
We find a strange adherence and affection for the prohibition of products in our country even though such products are allowed to be manufactured and traded legally worldwide. As a consumer, we strongly feel bans can be placed on products and related services only if there is a risk that they may cause serious injury, illness, or death. Globally, countries are engaged in harmonising laws and standards to promote Universal Quality and Safety Standards in the interest of public health. It has been well documented that bans have done little to protect the consumer, rather they encourage accelerated growth of contraband products.