Dr Mendelsohn is the founding chairman of the Australian Tobacco Harm Reduction Association and author of ‘ Stop Smoking , Start Vaping .’
He said Australia had an ‘ irrational ’ attitude to vaping and told how he experienced ‘ resistance and hostility ’ when he began advocating for tobacco harm reduction .
Mendelsohn said : “ This just made me more determined to continue because I knew I was on the right side of history .
“ I wrote my book because I was so frustrated with the disinformation and negative messaging about vaping .
“ To protect vaping , people need to make as much noise as they can and approaches to politicians are key ,” he added .
“ Personal stories cut through where research doesn ’ t . Once enough pressure is brought to bear , politicians will get the message and vaping will prevail .”
THE WAR ON VAPING MUST STOP
Antonella Marty , a Fellow at the Consumer Choice Center , said there were 40 countries in the world – mainly in South America , Asia and the Middle East , that banned vaping to a greater or lesser degree .
She said prohibition was never the answer and said vaping bans only served to deny smokers access to the most efficient quitting aid ever invented .
“ I wanted to provide accurate information to smokers so that they could make an informed decision to switch . People need to understand that vaping is far safer than smoking .”
Antonella told the WVA livestream event : “ As well as the negative effects on smokers , vaping bans lead to job losses and harm the economy .
He added : “ Nicotine does not cause cancer or lung disease and nor does it harm the adolescent human brain .
“ If people switch from smoking to vaping they can expect substantial improvements in their health .”
He said it was easier for Australians to get deadly cigarettes than vape products but predicted that the government would begin to take e-cigarettes more seriously as they gained popularity .
“ The World Health Organization encourages ever more restrictions on vaping and in Europe some policy makers also favour banning flavours .
“ This ignores the large numbers of cigarette users who turn to vaping when they want to quit smoking .”
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