Riyan Parag’s vape clip blows up online, doctors caution against 'dangerous myth' of safer smoking

GUWAHATI: Behind the sleek image of vaping lies a growing health threat for Guwahati's youth, city doctors warned, as vaping and e-cigarette use continue to cause serious health problems among a section of young people in the city. Allegations of Rajasthan Royals captain Riyan Parag vaping inside a dressing room during an IPL match have once again brought the spotlight back on the illegal but growing use of e-cigarettes and hookah in urban pockets. The health department is running awareness campaigns against tobacco products under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003, along with the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Act (PECA), 2019, which bans the transport and sale of electronic cigarettes.

However, enforcement officials said tracking online shipments of e-cigarettes remains a major challenge. Sources said e-cigarettes are being procured online as they are not openly available in shops.

"Some companies promote e-cigarettes as harm-reducing therapy, which is dangerous," said a source from an enforcement agency. Many youths began using e-cigarettes believing they were a safer way to reduce nicotine harm, but doctors have warned that vaping is equally harmful and may even have carcinogenic effects.

No official survey on e-cigarette users has been conducted in the state so far. Leading pulmonologist in Guwahati, Dr Kripesh Ranjan Sarmah, said common symptoms among patients using e-cigarettes include coughing and breathing difficulties. He said many users took up vaping under the false belief that it would reduce harm, but their addiction continued. "In cities like Guwahati, the percentage of e-cigarette users is lesser than those who smoke cigarettes.

However, but there are users, especially in the young and middle-age population between the ages of 20 and 50," Sarmah told TOI. Sarmah said because e-cigarettes involve technology, older smokers tend to stick to conventional cigarettes. "Majority of e-smokers were already smokers," Sarmah said, adding that e-cigarettes are almost equally harmful due to the presence of nicotine. "E-cigarettes continue addiction to smoking, can damage lungs, create chronic bronchitis complications, create cardiovascular problems, among other ill effects," he said, adding that these can have carcinogenic effects as well. A youth, on condition of anonymity, said he started using e-cigarettes believing they were completely safe. "I met two business executives in an office in Guwahati more than a decade ago, where they promoted e-cigarettes saying these were harmless," he said.