The government is examining the legal implications and health effects of e-cigarettes, Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda told the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
Mr. Nadda said the Health Ministry had constituted three groups to study the various aspects of e-cigarettes.
In reply to a question from Congress member Rajni Patil, Mr. Nadda said the Ministry formed three groups. One was to study the legal implications of this e-nicotine drug induce system, another was to go into the health effects and the other was to study advocacy. “All three sub-groups have given their reports. The Ministry is working on them. We are looking for legal opinion also, and very soon, we will be deciding the course of action,” he said.
When Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu asked Mr. Nadda to explain e-smoking, the Minister said it referred to the practice of inhaling capsules of nicotine in a vaporised form after they were heated. “This is actually an electronic nicotine delivery system. It has a nicotine capsule, which has no tobacco but nicotine that gives excitement as it hits the brain. Some countries have regulated e-smoking, while others have banned it,” he said.
