At first glance, that e-cigarettes, vapes, and other emerging tobacco products have been completely banned in Bangladesh looks to be a positive development.
With this move, Bangladesh’s amended Smoking and Tobacco Products Usage (Control) Ordinance, effective January 2026, has also issued heftier public smoking fines of up to Tk5,000, with stricter ad bans and pictorial warnings covering 75% of packs.
However, despite the unquestionable fact that tobacco and nicotine products continue to do far more harm than good for our society as a whole, we must question whether the current policy will achieve its desired outcome.
Science and research overall unequivocally positions e-cigarettes as lesser evils compared to traditional cigarettes, exposing users to far fewer carcinogens than combustible tobacco. Randomized trials also show vaping helps quit cigarette smoking.
As such, in Bangladesh, where an estimated 35% of adults smoke, banning alternative nicotine products such as e-cigarettes and vapes, could be doing more harm than good for the nation.
Research from Yale confirms: E-cig curbs boost traditional tobacco buys. While we understand and acknowledge that this ban is to safeguard the Bangladeshi youth, we fear that, as research tells us, they may turn to cigarettes instead — a far worse alternative.
As such, at a time when our country needs forward-thinking policies to help us from the obvious damage caused by tobacco products, such a ban may instead be playing right into the hands of cigarette manufacturers.
We must also acknowledge that while laws may exist regarding cigarettes, they have not been implemented. Public smoking remains rampant in every corner of the country, and loose cigarettes are sold everywhere.
Thus, while we may be looking towards tobacco control, the authorities are sidelining evidence-based alternatives instead of prioritizing the real culprits — cigarettes and the companies that continue to cultivate our lands and keep producing them.
