Need to regulate sale of nicotine

Hyderabad: Nicotine is a key component in electronic cigarettes which are prescribed to beat tobacco addiction. 

Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi, professor and cancer surgeon at Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai, says, “There in one milligram of nicotine in one gram of tobacco and yet that causes the addiction to smoking. Nicotine is a poisonous chemical, even in its purest form, which is why it is on the list of poisons in many countries.

There is a need to regulate its sale because it can harm the eye, heart and the kidney as it travels all over the body.”

Doctors claim that the number of filters in a cigarette can help reduce the extent of damage caused by tobacco. 

“Most Indian cigarettes are single filtered and that is bad because the more the number of filters, the more one can save oneself from the tobacco. But that does not mean that filtered cigarettes are good. They only reduce the impact negligibly. Smokers who live long can’t be considered examples, for it is mere chance in their case,” says Dr Vijay Anand.