<title>Why Are Cigarettes Legal But E-Cigarettes Are Not?</title> Image Credit: Buzzfeed
We all love a good laugh at those goofy Americans who wonder out aloud if Australia is really upside-down. And so we should, really. But then again, sometimes it seems that our northern friends might actually have a point.
In the land Down Under, it is illegal to import products that claim to help people quit smoking. It is illegal to sell most products that contain nicotine. In certain states it is illegal to possess nicotine and in others to sell products that so much as look like cigarettes. But you know what is legal?
Cigarettes.
There is something very bizarre going on in Australian smoking legislation. Let’s dive in and see if we can make some sense
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This means that if your e-cigarettes claim to help you quit smoking, you are going to run into trouble with customs!
Nicotine, which is contained in many electronic cigarettes (and, you know, actual cigarettes) is a Schedule 7 “Dangerous Poison” which makes it illegal to sell in Australia without a permit. This means that e-cigarettes containing nicotine cannot be bought inside Australia and there are also restrictions or prohibitions on possession in Queensland and Northern Territory.
Fortunately, Schedule 7 is not grounds for an import prohibition so people can still order their e-cigs from overseas without a problem. Under the Personal Importation Scheme, you can import up to a three-month supply of e-juice so long as it is for your own private use.
<h1>Didn’t Something Bizarre Happen in WA Recently?</h1>
It sure did. While it has always been illegal to sell e-cigarettes that contain nicotine in Australia, e-cig vendor Vince van Heerden has recently been charged for selling nicotine-free e-juice. So if not nicotine, what was the
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The answer is simple (albeit hard to find). Hidden away in the dense legalese of the Poisons Standard 2009 is this little gem:
NICOTINE [is] exempt in tobacco prepared and packaged for smoking.
That’s all there is to it. Nicotine is classified as a poison except when used in tobacco smoking.
But…Why!?
The Australian Medical Association in 1995 referred to it as “an historical accident” but attempts in the mid-90s to have the exemption status removed give us a clue as to how this came to be in the first place. The Tobacco Industry fought the Scheduling of tobacco, claiming that it would stigmatise smokers, damage the economy, and increase crime, all based on “nonsense” health claims.
In the end they won and tobacco remains exempt to this day although, to be fair, it has been heavily restricted. Smoking is banned in most public places, cannot be advertised anywhere except (sometimes) point of sale, and tobacco products must be displayed in plain, unbranded packaging. Nevertheless, Australia’s topsy-turvy legislation when it comes to electronic cigarettes is incredibly bizarre and, indeed, makes you wonder what exactly our policy-makers have been
Smoking tobacco has been a contentious issue ever since explorers brought tobacco leaves to Europe from the New World in the sixteenth century. In the 1960s, scientific reports conclusively linked cigarette smoking with certain forms of cancer. Despite this, anti-smoking legislation was virtually non-existent in Canada until the 1990s. Today, all areas of the country have legislation in place restricting the use of tobacco and very few allow smoking in public places, while others have banned it entirely. Anti-tobacco lobbyists say that while a lot of progress has been made, there are a number of areas that still need attention. Most Aboriginal reservations are considered exempt from smoking legislation. Many reservations and their surrounding areas are home to populations where 80 per cent of adolescents between the ages of fifteen and nineteen are regular smokers. In addition, since the introduction of smoking legislation, there has been an ongoing multibillion dollar battle between the big tobacco companies and the government. Tobacco companies feel that restrictions on the way they advertise, package and distribute their product is a violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Many companies have brought their cases to the attention of the Supreme Court of Canada with
Electronic cigarettes are more accessible to kids aged 18 and under. Today in the U.S there is a debate about cigarettes being outlawed. Although people in the U.S believe that e cigs should be outlawed because they are easier to access for kids under the age 18 they are causing kids to get hurt by e cigs; however some people might say E-cigs are enjoyable and are better than regular cigarettes.
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There is quite a bit of controversy regarding the use of E-cigarettes. A known fact according to the CDC and data from the 2011 and 2012 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) is that, “the percentage of U.S. middle and high school students who use e-cigarettes more than doubled from 2011 to 2012” (Bayless, 2014; Corey et al., 2013). The advertising and targeting of children by e-cigarette companies is evidenced by the large amount of advertising featuring celebrities like Jenny McCarthy, attractive packaging including devices that look like flash drives, and candy flavorings that appeal to children such as chocolate, mint, bubble gum, cherry, and watermelon, to name just a few (Bayless, 2014; Dotinga, 2014; Madigan, 2013; Hahn, Riker, & Brown, 2014; Johnson, 2014; Weskerna, 2010). Another concern is the rise in calls to Poison Centers for nicotine poisoning. In a study by Chatham-Stephens, Law, Taylor, Melstrom, Bunnell, Wang, Apelberg, & Shier (2014) between September 2010 and February 2014, e-cigarette exposure calls increased from one in September 2010 to 215 in February of 2014. Exposure were by inhalation, eyes, and skin with adverse effects that included vomiting, nausea, eye irritation, and a suicidal death caused by intravenous injection of the nicotine liquid used to refill e-cigarettes (Chatham-Stephens et al., 2014). E-cigarettes are not regulated or approved by the FDA, so there is no control over ingriedients or their concentration. The concern as stated by Fielding, a member of the American Public Health Association, “I’m particularly concerned that this could be a gateway drug” (Big US cities, 2014). E-cigarettes are sold in numerous businesses right here...
"Smoking Bans and the Tobacco Industry." Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 1 July 2013. Web. 4 Dec. 2013. .
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Almost everyone knows the health risks involved with smoking tobacco. Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) give habitual smokers the most promising results of tobacco reduction or cessation. There are some that disagree with the use of e-cigarettes however; the benefits are exceptional for those looking to quit this habit. It significantly lowers their health risks related with smoking tobacco and, unlike cigarettes, it does not release any harmful toxic chemical substances. E-cigarettes are also more cost efficient than buying a pack of cigarettes. Although there are some that oppose the use of the economical e-cigarettes, the advantages are greater because
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The Victorian ‘Tobacco Act 1987) was the first broad tobacco legislation and aimed to reduce smoking prevalence. The Act states ‘A person must not sell a tobacco product to a person under the age of 18 years.” (Human Service Western Region Tobacco Project Report) As part of this Government intervention, penalties were introduced with the maximum penalty for breaching the provision being $1000 first offence, $2000 second offence and possible loss of tobacco license for subsequent offences. Tobacco sales make up a large percentage of convenience stores sales (Refer to 5.????) and this Government crackdown on cigarettes which has continued to be prevalent has in some respects increased cigarette sales. The state government has acknowledged and concluded “A Disproportionate number of cigarette sales to minors occurred at milkbars and service station convenience stores compared to supermarkets, newsagents, and tobacconists.)
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Smoking is not only bad for health it is also as bad for the people
One of the biggest problems with society today is children and young adults are turning to electronic cigarettes for a source to nicotine. It is understood that some people might think that electronic cigarettes are better for people but here is why they are not. Electronic cigarettes have the same consequences as normal cigarettes with very few differences, such as in electronic cigarettes there is no tobacco and there is no carbon monoxide. Some might not know what is really in electronic cigarettes. Many people don’t know that there are over seven thousand chemicals and cartridges in these devices. Smoking electronic cigarettes has the same effects as normal cigarettes; they as well have been known to cause cancer and other diseases. Here is why electronic cigarettes are just as bad for the human body as
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