India: man jailed for vapor sales

In the first conviction of its kind in the country, a shopkeeper in Mohali, Punjab, India has been sentenced to three years in jail for selling e-cigarettes under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, according to a story in the Indian newspaper the Tribune Trust.

Sessions Judge Saru Mehta Kaushik also slapped a fine on 25-year-old Parvesh Kumar of Punjab Crockery. Out on bail, he’s been given a month to appeal. In 2013, the State Drugs Controller had issued a circular declaring e-cigarettes as an “unapproved drug”.

In the April 7 ruling, the judge noted, “E-cigarette contains nicotine in chemical form, which is highly addictive and potentially lethal. The youth take to such kind of addictive and potentially lethal products, and the offenders involved in promoting and selling such products should be dealt with sternly by law for the welfare of the society.”

He was sentenced to three years of rigorous imprisonment and required to pay fines.

“Having done well in the field of tobacco control in general, Punjab, with this conviction, has shown the way to the entire country to end the nicotine-delivery devices sold in the form of e-cigarettes,” Health Secretary Vini Mahajan reacted. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Hussan Lal said, “E-cigarettes have ushered in a so-called ‘no-smoking revolution’, becoming a fad especially among the youth. They are marketed as a healthy substitute to cigarettes. There are a lot of misconceptions about their potential benefits but all this is farce. The most important ingredient of e-cigarettes is nicotine.”