Electronic cigarettes subjected to tougher regulations than are tobacco cigarettes

Electronic cigarettes have been declared illegal in the Indian state of Punjab, according to a Daily Bhaskar story quoting the health department’s chief secretary, Vini Mahajan.

The newspaper said that Punjab was the only state to have declared such a ban, though it was not clear what the prohibition encompassed—whether the manufacture, import, sale, possession, use or use in public places.

Although the story said that e-cigarettes had been declared illegal, the health secretary was speaking at a smoke-free workshop organized by the Union of South East Asia, at which he said that 12 districts of Punjab had been declared “no smoking” districts.

Soon, it was said, the whole state would be declared smoke-free.

So it seems that electronic cigarettes, which many observers believe to be hugely less risky than are tobacco cigarettes, are currently being subjected to stricter regulations than are tobacco cigarettes.