E-cigarettes banned under law; no NCB cases of drug-laced vapes: Govt

Asserting that electronic cigarettes Ecigarettes remain completely banned under Indian law the government on Wednesday informed Parliament that no case related to the seizure of ecigarettes and vape devices with narcotic substances has been investigated by the Narcotics Control Bureau NCBIn a written reply in the Rajya Sabha Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai said the production manufacture import export transport sale distribution storage and advertisement of electronic cigarettes are prohibited under the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes PECA Act 2019The enforcement of the Act lies with the states and Union Territories through their law enforcement agenciesReplying to reports that vape devices seized in different states contained narcotic substances such as methamphetamine and ketamine the minister said the NCB has not investigated any such caseOn steps to strengthen screening at airports ports and courier hubs the government said agencies including the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence DRI and the Customs maintain constant vigil through intelligencebased operations passenger profiling using the advance passenger information system APIS riskbased interdiction and nonintrusive inspection methods such as baggage and container scanningField formations are being regularly sensitised to newer methods of smuggling while specialised K9 canine squads trained to detect narcotics have been deployed at airports to curb trafficking Rai said adding that action including arrest and prosecution is taken in accordance with law upon detection and seizure of narcotic drugsThe minister also said there is no proposal at present to amend the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances NDPS Act 1985 in this regardOn measures to protect students and address substance abuse the government cited the 247 National Narcotics Helpline MANAS 1933 which provides a single platform for citizens to report and track drugrelated issuesA separate tollfree deaddiction helpline 14446 has received more than 430 lakh calls so far The Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan is being implemented across districts reaching over 249 crore people including youth and women alongside awareness programmes in schools and collegesEcigarettes have been in the news after BJP MP Anurag Thakur last week lodged a written complaint with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla seeking action against a Trinamool Congress lawmaker for allegedly smoking an ecigarette inside the HouseThakur also raised the issue in the Lok Sabha without naming the MP In his complaint the Hamirpur MP said a TMC member was seen openly using an electronic cigarette while seated in the House during the sittings an act he said was clearly visible to several members and amounted to a violation of parliamentary decorum and a cognisable offence under the lawThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever