29 October 2015

ACT to restrict e-cigarette use

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e-cigarettes

ACT regulation of electronic cigarettes will become more restrictive in line with NSW and Queensland next year under planned changes to legislation related to the devices.

The new laws will ban the sale of e-cigarettes to children and place restrictions on their promotion via advertisements, display and marketing. It will also prohibit the use of e-cigarettes in smoke-free areas.

ACT Health Minister Simon said that potential harm to public health warranted a precautionary approach despite the unknowns around risks and benefits of e-cigarettes.

“The ACT Government’s approach is consistent with advice from the National Health and Medical Research Council to minimise any potential harms to the community pending further evidence on the safety, quality and efficacy of e-cigarettes,” he said.

“We particularly want to prevent the uptake of e-cigarettes by non-smokers, including children and young people.”

The ACT’s adult daily smoking rate remains the lowest in Australia at 9.9%.

“The proposed restrictions aim to protect public health, without constraining access to non-nicotine e?cigarettes by smokers wanting to quit,” Mr Corbell said.

“The Government is aware that a number of Canberrans are using e-cigarettes to support their quit attempts. However, nicotine-containing e-cigarettes have not been approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration as a quit smoking aid and it will remain illegal to sell or possess e-cigarettes that contain nicotine without a licence under the Medicines, Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Act 2008.”

The ACT Government undertook a public consultation on e-cigarettes in late 2014. A total of 242 submissions were received, including from individuals, business owners and public health organisations.

“The consultation told us there is concern within the community about the possible health risks of e?cigarettes,” Mr Corbell said.

“The legislation to be introduced next year will prohibit e-cigarette sales to under-18s, ban sales by vending machine, and restrict in-store and point-of-sale advertisements and displays. E-cigarette promotions, inclusion in customer reward schemes, sponsorships and product giveaways will also be banned.

“To prevent the renormalisation of tobacco smoking, e-cigarette use will be prohibited in smoke-free areas.”

The approach to the regulation of e-cigarettes announced by the ACT Government is in line with that introduced by the Queensland Government in January this year. It also aligns with recent amendments introduced by the New South Wales Government.

 

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P4rit4 said :

To be honest, I think e-cigs do more harm than normal cigarettes. Give it another 20 years and see what sort of problems the users start having..

Really? cigarettes with about 6000 carcinogens as compared to ecigs at 6

http://casaa.org/uploads/8_Biggest_Electronic_Cigarette_Myths.pdf

even a casual googling about the subject can give you a more informed opinion.

the main ingredient in ecigs ,polyethyl glycol is also used in asthma nebulisers
and is generally considered harmless.

To be honest, I think e-cigs do more harm than normal cigarettes. Give it another 20 years and see what sort of problems the users start having..

Polypropylene Glycol is organically inert so much so it is injected directly to the bloodstream to carry medication and nicotine itself causes no diseases .Tomatoes have traces of nicotine ,while in it’s purest form nicotine is deadly but so are most things in pure form. typically ecigs with nicotine are about 1.8% or less in strength .
I can see the eventual demise of cigarettes and that has to be a good thing.

Ghettosmurf878:40 am 27 Oct 15

I understand what you are saying TuggLife, but that is not the argument that the ACT Government is running with. From the statement above, the main motivating factor for the restrictions is to prevent uptake of normal cigarette smoking by renormalising it. The way the statement is worded suggests that it is the nicotine part of cigarettes that is the issue, which I would debate. It is the harmful by-products of cigarettes that are the health issue, not the nicotine. I do understand the need to ensure that any e-cig by-products are not harmful though.

As for the aerosols information, that is all well and good, but why would you treat e-cigs any differently to the copious other aerosols out there which are not illegal to use in a smoke-free area? Doesn’t make sense unless it isn’t about the aerosols…

@Ghettosmurf87 It doesn’t just smell bad, though – it’s potentially harmful. Propylene glycol is generally safe for human consumption, but it’s usually present in foods, not in aerosolised form. A good analogy is flour – it’s safe to eat, but regularly inhaling it will lead to a variety of respiratory problems. Because only limited evidence is available, it makes sense to err on the side of caution. Being a quit aid is only half the picture.

For those with chronic lung conditions such as asthma, aerosols can aggravate the condition. It’s just crappy to put that exposure onto someone else, especially if they’ve made a conscious decision to be in a smoke-free area. There’s a common argument that the aerosols are the same as a smoke machine – but many asthmatics would actively avoid those, too.

As an aside, there has been an increase in the number of phone calls to the NSW Poisons Information Centre concerning accidental ingestion of nicotine by children since e-cigarettes became popular. E-liquid bottles are often not labelled correctly, so may still contain nicotine, even if labelled otherwise, and many e-liquid bottles do not have child resistant packaging. Regulation of this industry is entirely appropriate.

Ghettosmurf8711:20 am 26 Oct 15

miz said :

Ghettosmurf, surely if they need a fix they can buy patches so others don’t have to share their particular choice of pong!

Hi Miz, I’m sure this too is an option. However, something smelling bad but not being harmful to the smeller is very different to second-hand smoke which has actual detrimental health effects on those who inhale it.

If we were to regulate everything that smelt bad, there would be a lot of things not allowed in public that are currently commonplace. Certain deodorants, bad body odour, many fruits, fish, curry, car fumes, etc…

it will remain illegal to sell or possess e-cigarettes that contain nicotine without a licence under the Medicines, Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Act 2008.

This statement in original post seems to be at odds with TGA’s web site

Importation of nicotine electronic cigarettes for personal use
? Importation of nicotine electronic cigarettes for personal therapeutic use (e.g,
use as a quitting aid) is exempt from TGA registration requirements (but other
conditions apply, noted below). This exemption arises under the personal
importation scheme provided for under the Therapeutic Goods Regulations 1990
(Cth) (Schedule 5). It is therefore possible to lawfully import nicotine electronic
cigarettes for personal use

I have been using an E cig for over three years now ,previous to this I was a pack a day smoker for 35 years,I stopped smoking in 24 hours .
For me it was financial incentive as well as health issue.Smoking was costing $120 + a week to now about $10 a week and my doctor tells me my lungs are returning to normal so for me a win win.
As far as second hand smoke goes well its not smoke its vapour and dissipates almost immediately even the most sensitive people would have trouble smelling or ingesting anything.
Tobacco companies hate these things but they are trying to muscle in on the action but most vapours would prefer they just pissed off ,they’re the ones were’re trying to get away from.
I welcome the new legislation because it’s more about what it doesn’t say than it does.
It does’nt say I can’t have or use an E-cig and having rules give it some legitimacy

Ghettosmurf, surely if they need a fix they can buy patches so others don’t have to share their particular choice of pong!

Glad to hear it. Secondhand e-cig vapor leaves a nasty nicotine taste in my mouth, and I’m fed up with people thinking they have the right to breathe it onto bystanders. I would encourage smokers to quit without inconveniencing others.

Ghettosmurf873:33 pm 23 Oct 15

I’ll start this off by saying I hate smoking and refuse to partake, however…

It’s an interesting one. I always thought the issue with smoking was not the addictive nature of nicotine and the difficulty involved with quitting, but instead with the health risks related to cigarettes (lung cancer, etc) and other mediums which people get nicotine from, such as chewing tobacco (mouth cancer).

It is all the other things you need to consume while getting your nicotine hit which are most harmful and which cause such a burden on our health system.

If you could get the nicotine, without the harmful by-products, then nicotine becomes no different to caffeine.

So, by all means ensure that there are not significant health issues caused by vaporizing tobacco in an e-cig. But if it is found to be a relatively harmless conduit for nicotine, then it should be allowed or even encouraged.

Grimm said :

rosscoact said :

Tobacco companies want people to remain addicted to nicotine and whether the delivery system is tobacco or an e-cigarette is irrelevant to their bottom line.

What difference does that make? What’s happening here is discouraging people from using a much healthier alternative to smoking tobacco. It seems very counter productive to the feigned concern governments have about the health impacts of smoking tobacco.

It’s not just tobacco companies that want people to remain addicted. Taxes on tobacco are a cash cow.

The difference it makes is that it’s not a ‘quit smoking’ initiative, it is a ‘stay addicted so that you can go back to smoking’ initiative and as such shouldn’t be encouraged.

rosscoact said :

Tobacco companies want people to remain addicted to nicotine and whether the delivery system is tobacco or an e-cigarette is irrelevant to their bottom line.

What difference does that make? What’s happening here is discouraging people from using a much healthier alternative to smoking tobacco. It seems very counter productive to the feigned concern governments have about the health impacts of smoking tobacco.

It’s not just tobacco companies that want people to remain addicted. Taxes on tobacco are a cash cow.

Ha ha ha, good luck! They can’t even enforce current smoke-free areas….

Grimm said :

Seems somewhat counter productive.
Really don’t see how this “normalises smoking”, considering it’s not smoking. I’m not sure what health risks water vapour pose to other people either.
People are using these things in an effort to quit smoking. I don’t know of a single person, nor have I ever heard of anybody taking up using an e-cigarette for the cool factor. Forcing people who are trying to quit to go and use these things in designated smoking areas is making it even harder for them to quit, and exposing them to second hand smoke.

If Governments REALLY cared about the health concerns of smoking and actually wanted people to quit, they would probably be doing more to get these things approved by the TGA and encourage their use. The reality is they have to be seen to be doing something about smoking, yet not really doing anything much while continuing to reap the huge tax rewards it generates.

Special…

Tobacco companies want people to remain addicted to nicotine and whether the delivery system is tobacco or an e-cigarette is irrelevant to their bottom line. I don’t know what the figures are about people quitting smoking through teh use of e-cigs but lets face it, the only way top quit is to actually quit.

Personally I prefer that an addict uses an e-cig because it is less offensive to sucking in their second hand smoke.

Anyone who thinks that e-cig suppliers are not trying to make them cool has never been overseas

Seems somewhat counter productive.
Really don’t see how this “normalises smoking”, considering it’s not smoking. I’m not sure what health risks water vapour pose to other people either.
People are using these things in an effort to quit smoking. I don’t know of a single person, nor have I ever heard of anybody taking up using an e-cigarette for the cool factor. Forcing people who are trying to quit to go and use these things in designated smoking areas is making it even harder for them to quit, and exposing them to second hand smoke.

If Governments REALLY cared about the health concerns of smoking and actually wanted people to quit, they would probably be doing more to get these things approved by the TGA and encourage their use. The reality is they have to be seen to be doing something about smoking, yet not really doing anything much while continuing to reap the huge tax rewards it generates.

Special…

Aligning the legislation with NSW is a great idea – the legislation around tobacco can be confusing, as there is regulation by all three tiers of government. Anything to simplify the law is good for smokers (and good for everyone). Although it didn’t get up in NSW, banning e-cigarettes in smoke-free areas is a good idea. Part of the basis for smoke-free area legislation is to de-normalise smoking, and also assist those quitting to be exposed to less environmental tobacco smoke.

The point was well made by Jeremy Buckingham when he used an e-cigarette in the NSW Parliament in May – at the moment, it’s not against the law for your child’s teacher to be using an e-cigarette in class, or your GP to be using one in the middle of a consultation. Although they may be helpful as a quit aid (and the jury is still out on that point), the lack of regulation around these products is appalling.

“The consultation told us there is concern within the community about the possible health risks of e-cigarettes,” Mr Corbell said.

AWESOME let’s just go with people’s gut feelings and the “possible health risks” instead of examining the scientific evidence and ongoing research.

E-cigarettes will be lauded as the public health invention of the 21st century, mark my words.

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