The nascent e-cigarettes industry on Tuesday called upon the Gujarat Government to reconsider implementing a legislation it had passed in the ongoing state Assembly banning electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) devices, stating that this was regressive given the international trends and unilateral.
"We are extremely disheartened to hear that a progressive state like Gujarat has taken a hasty step to attempt to ban the ENDS category, without giving an opportunity to the industry to present facts and the available research," Praveen Rikhy, convenor of Trade Representatives of ENDS in India (TRENDS), stated in a representation to Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.TRENDS is a voluntary body of importers, distributors and marketers of the nicotine devices. She added: "We have been denied an opportunity to represent the category and help the government make an informed choice on this matter".
Rikhy informed in the representation, a copy of which was also submitted to Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, that the association had also urged the Union Health Ministry to review its position on the issue in light of the facts and experience of many countries around the world. The association found it contradictory that a ban was sought to be put on e-cigarettes but not cigarettes and beedis, which had been proven to be more harmful. "Ban of ENDS will rob citizens of Gujarat of a viable substitute to traditional smoking, in terms of impact on human health and environment, a representation stated.