Concerned by cases of vaping with e-cigarettes being reported amongst college and school students , the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR) has written to State Drugs Controller B.T. Khanapure that teens have devised new ways to turn e-cigarettes into devices for vaping drugs.
KSCPCR Chairperson Kripa Amar Alva told The Hindu on Tuesday that she learnt from officials — during a recent review of enforcement of the ban on sale (including online), manufacture, distribution, trade, import and advertisement of e-cigarettes in Mangaluru — that teens were now using e-cigarettes to consume drugs, which are easily available. “This is a worrying trend and I have asked the Drugs Controller to put in place a strong monitoring mechanism to check this deadly menace,” she said.
In her letter dated September 23, Ms Alva has asked the Drugs Controller to ensure that school authorities and parents take cognisance of the new trend and be vigilant to prevent their children falling for such addictions.
Quoting a study published in international medical journal Paediatrics that concluded that occurance of high school students using e-cigarettes to vaporise marijuana and other forms of drugs is 27 times higher than among adults, Ms Alva said: “This new addiction method helps users discretely vape deodorised drugs and its extracts without alerting people nearby as there is no need for ignition. Such trends have now been observed in pockets of Karnataka among the youth.”
