The Gateway

Various longitudinal studies had shown, that E cigarettes are serving as a gateway to cannabis use, for youth in particular, the use of vaporizers for marijuana consumption is increasing; Morean and colleagues found that almost 30% of high school e-cigarette users had also vaped marijuana. While nicotine vaping remains more common than cannabis vaping, the boundaries between the two substances appear to be thinning.

Vaping is far more discreet than smoking combustible cigarettes or 

marijuana, which may lower the barrier of trying cannabis.The odor is less pungent and dissipates quickly, making it easier for young people to use these products in places where they are prohibited, such as school or home.

Vaping, whether of nicotine, cannabis or other substances, has risen in popularity, such that the Oxford Dictionary designated ‘vape’ the word of the year in 2014.

For those less familiar, ‘vaping’ is the slang term for the vaporization of substances (e.g. flavors, nicotine or cannabis products) whereby liquid, oil or plant material is heated to a temperature that releases an aerosolized mixture of water vapor and active ingredients [e.g. nicotine in e-cigs and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) or cannabidol for cannabis], which is then inhaled. 

The Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Act (PECA) of 2019 made the production, sale, import, export, transport, and advertising of all vaping products illegal in India. The recreational use of cannabis is illegal under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act of 1985.