E-cigarettes, the dangerous new addiction of the youth

E-cigarettes are the ostensibly innocuous siblings of regular cigarettes. Although touted as many things—a “safer” alternative, a weaning tool or handy at places where cigarette smoking is not allowed—e-cigarettes contain nicotine, which is not only addictive but is also a highly toxic chemical that can adversely affect any organ of the body

Mumbai: In mid-February, the Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) of the Mumbai police, in a two-day drive, raided four paan shops in the city and registered cases against 12 people. Among them was Shivkumar Tiwari, better known as Mucchad Paanwala, whose paans have been the talk of the town and patronised by the glitterati for decades. The raids, however, had nothing to do with paan—the shop-owners were arrested for selling electronic cigarettes or e-cigarettes.

E-cigarettes, the dangerous new addiction of the youth

E-cigarettes are the ostensibly innocuous siblings of regular cigarettes. Although touted as many things—a “safer” alternative, a weaning tool or handy at places where cigarette smoking is not allowed—e-cigarettes contain nicotine, which is not only addictive but is also a highly toxic chemical that can adversely affect any organ of the body. Pertinently, the final verdict of whether or not these cigarettes are harmful is far from over.

During the raid on Tiwari’s shop in Khetwadi, 79 e-cigarettes worth ₹1.25 lakh were recovered. “On questioning him, we learnt about the supplier and raided a godown in Dana Bander area in South Mumbai from where we have seized around 800 e-cigarettes,” said an ANC official. A hookah material godown in South Mumbai was also raided, and 699 hookah packets worth ₹4.5 lakh were recovered.

During the entire raid, 947 e-cigarettes worth Rs. 13.65 lakh were recovered. “We have been trying to find out about the importer and the route through which e-cigarettes have been coming to the city,” said a senior IPS officer. “Once we will get a lead, the concerned department of the central agencies will also be informed so that they can take strict legal action against importers in the city.”

Prakash Jadhav, deputy commissioner of police (ANC), told HT that the raid was spurred by complaints from all over the city that people, mostly youngsters, were smoking e-cigarettes in public places. “E-cigarettes are being sold near colleges and hospitals in the city,” he said. After the raid, the police realised just how easily the toxic sticks were available.

Despite a ban in September 2019 on the manufacture, import, transport, sale, advertising and distribution of e-cigarettes, the latter, and more recently e-hookahs, are easily available to adolescents and youth via paan shops, over the counter, and through online stores. Dr Prakash C Gupta, director of the Healis Sekhsaria Institute for Public Health, said that manufacturers targeted adolescents via the internet. “A study we did showed that adolescents were much more aware of e-cigarettes than adults, and were also consuming them more,” he said. “Many shops too stock them, especially those near schools and colleges. It’s a dangerous trend.”

School counsellors are seeing more and more cases of e-cigarette addiction. A counsellor at a South Mumbai school recounted the case of a Class 8 student, who first saw her brother and his friends “vape”, and stole the e-cigarette from his bag to try it out.

The counsellor recalled the student’s description of her first time. “She told me, ‘It looks like a pen with a button and can be charged. Smoke is released on pressing the button. It was strawberry-flavoured, which I really enjoyed.’ My sessions with her helped. She has got rid of the habit and is now studying well.”

E-hookahs too are catching up among school students. A Class 8 student from a Bandra-based school, after being seen at a nearby paan shop, was sent to the counsellor. On probing, the counsellor found out that the 13-year-old student had been using e-hookahs since Class 7.

“His friends asked him to give it a shot,” she said. “He tried it because he trusted his friends. He said he carried the e-hookah, which resembles a pen, in his school bag confidently since his parents and teachers wouldn’t be able to figure out if it contained writing ink or intoxicating liquid.” Six counselling sessions later along with his parents, the student was de-addicted.

A principal of a prominent school in South Mumbai said that the addiction often came through parents. “These things are readily available to the parents of many children in our school, so their children naturally turn to them,” she said. “We organise workshops for students as well as parents and have frequent discussions with the students on the ill-effects of this addiction.”

Most e-cigarettes are available in the market for ₹500 to ₹2,500. “A group of five to six students pool in and buy the device; it is also easily available in the second-hand market for ₹300 to ₹1000,” said a principal.

The levels of addiction are alarming. A report by Salaam Bombay Foundation, an organisation that runs campaigns against tobacco in schools, claims that one in two boys and one in seven girls in Mumbai use e-cigarettes. “Our organisation works towards “tobacco-free” schools but now we will include e-cigarettes as well,” said Narayan Lad, AGM of the Preventive Health programme of the Foundation. “We are going to take over the public awareness campaign from schools.”

A recent multi-institutional research paper titled ‘E-Cigarettes Use Among Indian Adolescents’ states that 18 out of the 24 school students interviewed used e-cigarettes and chewed areca nut. Sixteen students used e-cigarettes, areca nuts and pot hookahs regularly. Most students belonged to the age group of 13 to 14 years. Five hundred and seventy-six students participated in the survey.

The study says that currently there are over 460 brands of e-cigarettes with over 7,700 different flavours. They are, in fact, marketed to the youth by promoting the flavours through media channels, particularly social media. In India, the paper says, there are 75 companies selling e-cigarettes online.

“Participants preferred e-cigarettes because of the fruity flavours and smells; however, they said conventional cigarettes were more affordable,” says the study. “Participants named a variety of e-liquid flavours: strawberry, chocolate, double apple, magai paan (betel leaf), guava and saunf (fennel). Enjoying the e-liquid flavour was described as the best part of the e-cigarette experience.”

Vaping is not restricted to any one socio-economic class, as Jagdish Indalkar, principal of Lion M P Bhuta Sion Saravajnik School near Dharavi, found. “Most of our students come from the slum area, and so we check school bags from time to time,” he said. “A few days ago, we found six e-cigarette pens. Upon inquiry, students said the e-liquid was widely available at ₹300 for 100 ml at local paan tapris, and spoke about the various flavours.”

Dr Gupta said that the claim that e-cigarettes were less harmful than normal cigarettes was totally wrong. “Regrettably, many international researchers, including Indian researchers, are writing about this unfounded theory,” he said. “Another challenge is product availability and advertising via the internet. There is currently no control over this internet media, and how to stop the advertisement of e-cigarettes on the internet is a major concern. We need to educate children about this.”

Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi, head and neck cancer surgeon and deputy director, Centre of Cancer Epidemiology, Tata Memorial Centre has worked towards getting e-cigarettes banned in India. “E-cigarettes contain nicotine—a highly addictive and toxic chemical,” he said. “People claim they are safe due to the absence of tobacco. The problem is that nicotine, even in its purified form, is, like tobacco, also carcinogenic, harmful and toxic to the heart, brain, and kidneys.

“The maximum nicotine that doctors prescribe is two mg for the withdrawal syndrome,” continued Dr Chaturvedi. “E-cigarette cartridges contain 10 mg of nicotine, which is not approved by any medical body. Thirty mg is lethal. Young adults should be aware that the information on social media about the safety of e-cigarettes is false. Also, we need better controlling mechanisms. People buy e-cigarettes online, and the majority import them, so the entire enforcement system needs to be improved.”

(Inputs from Somita Pal)