A small but burgeoning product category was blighted when India prohibited the import, production, advertising and sale of vapor products in late 2019. The nationwide ban came after several states and union territories had implemented similar restrictions on electronic nicotine-delivery systems (ENDS) in previous years. "This was the culmination of a five-year effort to ban e-cigarettes, which began in 2014 when the central government set up three panels to advise on the way forward," explains Samrat Chowdhery, founder and director of the Association of Vapers India (AVI). "The way these committees were constituted-staffed with anti-tobacco harm reduction [THR] tobacco control experts and government officials-the outcomes were pre-decided, and all three recommended a ban."
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