The government's decision to ban e-cigarettes is based on dubious science and logic. The government claims that e-cigarettes have become an addictive havoc in the West and India needs to avoid falling into the same trap. Critics of 'vaping', as the inhalation of e-cigarettes is called, claim that this is a new form of nicotine addiction aimed especially at young people, and that a ban will prevent millions of youngsters from being seduced into nicotine addiction. Some producers have laced ecigarettes with flavours like mint, mango and bubblegum, possibly to lure youngsters. Top anti-vaping activists in the US have hailed India's decision as a 'bold effort' to prevent an e-cigarette epidemic. However, studies tell a different story. Vaping is criticised in the US for causing seven deaths from lung disease. In fact, these deaths were caused by illegal e-cigarettes using marijuana and acetate chemicals. The answer is to stop illegal, contaminated e-cigarettes, not ban legal ones. Youth vaping in the US has risen stridently since 2011, but been accompanied by a huge drop in youth cigarette smoking, from 15.8% to 8.1%. In other words, vaping is not an addition to smoking cigarettes but an alternative with far fewer health risks. Indeed, many people who cannot quit smoking are able to first switch to vaping and then give up altogether. Vaping avoids the tar and other ingredients in cigarette smoke that cause cancer, stroke and lung disease. For many smokers, it offers a way to quit smoking altogether. If the government is serious about the health of smokers, surely, the first priority must be to raise the tax on bidis and chewing tobacco. Sadly, the government's concern is missing for bidi smokers and goes to alarmist extremes for vaping, which is much safer.