Bloomberg’s Crusade: The Impact of Anti-Vaping Policies on India

In recent years, there's been a paradigm shift in the global landscape of tobacco control, with the restriction of nicotine vaping products becoming a significant policy focus over and above the general reduction in smoking. Michael Bloomberg’s philanthropic efforts are in the vanguard of shaping such health policies globally, exerting financial power to influence tobacco regulations worldwide and safeguard the population from the “potential harm” of vaping.

Bloomberg’s anti-vaping crusade is well documented in the West. Vapers in America are well aware of Michael Bloomberg and his patronage for policies that ban or restrict vaping. Across the globe, his web of charities and specific groups enjoy millions of dollars in grants, as we’ve seen with recent restrictions on vaping products in Mexico and Singapore.

For years, Bloomberg has donated lavish amounts of money to a network of monetarily tied universities, nonprofits, and activists and orchestrated their collective effort to instigate fear over vaping products and force governments into embracing draconian norms to promote a new form of prohibition. Bloomberg has fully funded numerous organizations that are working to promote policies in his favor globally. These include John Hopkins University, Campaign for Tobacco- Free Kids, the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use, The Union, and Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA).

Bloomberg has displayed a whole range of devious tactics to disseminate the same false depiction of vaping as an extension of the tobacco epidemic rather than an effective harm- reduction tool. For instance, in Latin America, Bloomberg Philanthropies has backed numerous non-governmental organizations, such as the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and UNION, to advocate for more stringent anti-vaping laws for the government. The influence has caused extensive bans on the commercial sale of vaping products in most Latin American countries except Colombia and Costa Rica.

His influence has ignited discussion here in India, where the impact of these policies is more complicated due to their conflict with our country’s rich, diverse, and deeply rooted tobacco culture. India has become the latest battleground in Bloomberg’s campaign. Home to an estimated 253 million smokers, this whopping number of tobacco users places the nation in 2nd place worldwide and 1st among Southeast Asian countries in terms of total tobacco consumption.

Vaping has vast potential for harm reduction, yet Bloomberg’s influence has contributed to moving Indian policy in the polar opposite direction. In 2019, a nationwide ban was passed on the production, sale, and possession of e-cigarettes and vaping products. This step was endorsed by anti-tobacco activists like the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

Four years later, however, the step has proven entirely flawed. Despite penalties, e-cigarettes remain broadly accessible online and in storefronts, leading to a flourishing black market where counterfeit products have jeopardized consumer’s health. Not to mention that smokers who might have quit using vaping devices are forced to fall back to traditional cigarettes. As such, the ban in India has dealt a severe blow to public health and jeopardized the lives of hundreds of millions of smokers.

Bloomberg's harmful impact extends beyond promoting harmful policies. By associating financial aid with the adoption of specific guidelines, Bloomberg and his allies make it challenging for governments to prioritize existing health issues. The public health sector in India is severely overstrained, and this kind of foreign influence only intensifies existing challenges, rendering it harder to address other serious issues as well.

Furthermore, Bloomberg’s action underscores the stark contrast between his public statements and the natural consequences of his behavior. Rather than facilitating nations to craft evidence- based remedies to smoking-related diseases, Bloomberg dictates a blanket policy that often results in more harm than good by failing to consider the actual circumstances of the policy (the way the ban was unable to take effect in India).

Instead of giving in and repeating the same mistakes in the smoking policy, governments must resist the temptation of easy money from Bloomberg-controlled channels and focus on formulating policies tailored to address India's specific issues. This solution also includes exploring the benefits of e-cigarettes and vaping products in harm reduction rather than imposing a blanket ban.

The fight against smoking should be about saving lives, not advancing a specific agenda. Bloomberg’s influence on vaping laws in India is a cautionary tale of what happens when external forces dictate public health policy. The real solution lies in respecting the rule of law, prioritizing local needs, and adopting a balanced approach to tobacco control, not in bowing to the will of outsiders trying to dictate to people what is right and wrong.

 Shrey Madaan is an Indian Policy Associate at the Consumer Choice Center.