FEATURE
The war between prohibitionists and harm-reduction advocates rages on
By Gordon Stribling
As we reported in the last issue of the magazine, Australian vaping
policies lag far behind those of the UK, US and Canada. Fears
about the influence of Big Tobacco have hampered the growth
of the very thing that could help the country’s stubborn smoking
population kick the habit.
On April 11, state health minister Brad Hazzard announced that
from July, people caught vaping in public spaces in New South
Wales would be subject to fines of up to $550. The Smoke Free
Environment Bill 2018 aligns the state’s legislation with that of
Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory
(ACT), where vaping is already banned in places where smoking
is prohibited.
Mr Hazzard said,
“Despite claims to the contrary, the jury is still out on the alleged
benefits of e-cigarettes. The medical advice from Australian authorities
is we need to err on the side of caution.”
While Mr Hazzard was keen to point out that the ruling does not
ban people from using e-cigarettes elsewhere, the move reflects
an ongoing conflict between politicians, tobacco controllers and
proponents of harm-reduction.
A parliamentary report published in March called for maintenance
of the status quo, recommending that a review into the potential
risks of e-cigarette use and their effectiveness on smoking-cessation
be undertaken every two years.
The Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Sport also
recommended that nicotine should continue to be restricted until
the therapeutic value of e-cigarettes is established.
The enquiry included dissenting reports from MPs Trent Zimmerman
and Tim Wilson, who argued for a regulated e-cigarette policy similar
to the TPD in Europe, where advertising is restricted, and products
are labelled with health warnings. The authors said:
“E-cigarettes are already available in Australia via online overseas
retailers and the black market. Nicotine e-cigarettes are widely
available, used, but unregulated. A regulated market would help
improve product safety and provide more effective controls over
e-cigarette marketing and promotion, particularly to young people.”
In his own dissenting report, Mr Andrew Laming MP simply said,
48 | VM17
“Life is short and shorter for
smokers. Just legalise vaping.”