Why in news?
The ‘U.S. Food and Drug Administration’-FDA has proposed to reduce the amount of nicotine in cigarettes to non-addictive levels.
What is nicotine?
- Nicotine is an extremely addictive substance that is present in cigarettes.
- It does not directly cause cancers and other diseases.
- But by keeping smokers addicted for the long term it exposes them to nearly 7,000 harmful chemicals every time they smoke.
What is the significance of the proposal?
- This is a new dimension towards addressing addiction & reducing cancer.
- It may reduce the likelihood of new users (those in the 15-24 age group) getting addicted to cigarettes.
- It increases the chances of habitual smokers being able to quit.
What are the other popular smoking control measures?
- E-cigarettes are considered an alternative to help smokers quit the habit.
- A significant increase in the quitting rate among smokers has been seen with e-cigarette use.
- FDA has made selling e-cigarettes to children illegal to effectively address the growing concern about children smoking them.
- But the current FDA’s proposal doesn’t seek to regulate nicotine in e-cigarettes.
What is the scenario in India?
- India has followed most of the measures mentioned in the ‘WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control guidelines.
- Unlike the U.S, India had banned tobacco advertisements long ago.
- It introduced pictorial warnings covering 85% of the front and back of packages of tobacco products.
- It has also prohibited the use of positive descriptions like mild, flavoured on labels.
- The number of tobacco users reduced by more than eight million between 2010 and 2016.
- Legal prohibition of the sale of e-cigarettes to minors has not been done yet.
What lies ahead?
- There is the possibility that tobacco companies will aggressively target developing countries.
- It is important for the Indian government to remain resolute in not losing the gains made in the last few years.
Source: The Hindu
