If you’re a vaper and you live in the state of Karnataka in India, you’re now unable to vape. It’s that simple – and it follows a government study that apparently took place that recommended a comprehensive ban on vaping and everything to do with it.
According to reports, it is now impossible to sell or distribute any vaping product within the state. People can no longer get hold of electronic cigarettes, nor can they be advertised by anyone wanting to sell them. And it is all based on this mythical report… because apparently reports suggest the study that led to the ban never actually took place to begin with.
Someone made a Right to Information query (similar to a Freedom of Information request in the UK, we would suppose) regarding the ‘study’. The response revealed that no reports, no detailed study and no information was available regarding the matter.
Little surprise then that the matter is now being referred to as Vapegate by some, and other variations on that same theme. It has been pointed out that there isn’t a ban in place on cigarettes, which are arguably far more harmful to health in lots of ways. And yet e-cigs have allegedly been banned quickly and easily and without any sort of research being done.
Needless to say, the controversy regarding the decision continues to rage. People want to know why the government said it had conducted a study into vaping that indicated young people were becoming addicted to the habit. And yet the Right to Information query revealed this wasn’t actually the case.
The waters here are pretty murky, and there doesn’t seem to be any chance of the government changing their minds anytime soon, either. What do you think of the latest decision against vaping?
