The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) June 2022 published updated evidence that people who use E-cigarettes are more likely to become smokers when compared to those who neither smoked nor used vapes. This was in agreement with the Australian Government commissioned Evidence Review published in April 2022 by the Australian National University. The Australian government should enforce vape regulations now
Using e-cigarettes presents more health risks than just being a precursor to smoking. The evidence reviews by the NHMRC showed that e-cigarette aerosols are made up of tens of chemicals known to harm the human body. Using e-cigarettes thus can lead to lung damage caused by acetoin, acetyl propionyl, and diacetyl. It can also lead to damage to your respiratory tissues due to chemicals such as acrolein, benzene, cadmium formaldehyde, and toluene which are known to be lethal.
A recent study by the American Heart Association which many in Australia haven’t given much thought to provides perhaps the most urgent reason why the government should enforce e-cigarette regulations now. The study investigated the cardiopulmonary risks of using e-cigarettes among adolescents. The study found that both vaping and smoking increased the risk for lower lung function and vulnerability to common lung diseases such as pneumonia and asthma among adolescence who used those substances. The study also found that both vaping and smoking increased the risks of contracting cardiovascular diseases for adolescents in their later years.
In October 2021, the Australian government rolled out the prescription model for the sale of all vaping products that contain nicotine. This regulation was put in place to make sure that young adults, teenagers, and children do not have access to these products. Therefore, only adults who need these products will use them under the guidance of experienced health care professionals. Furthermore, the general practitioner’s guidelines for smoking cessation updated in 2021 by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) recommends that nicotine-containing e-cigarettes should only be used as second-line therapy after all the other Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approved pharmacotherapies fail.
However, importers and retailers of e-cigarettes have found ways to circumvent the law as shown in the investigative piece by the ABC program Four Corners which was aired on 27th June 2022. Retailers import these products with a lot of ease and thus making them easily accessible even to teens who stand to suffer the most from their negative effects. The situation is made even direr by the online marketing strategies targeting children and teens and flavors. This is perhaps why many teens and young adults are getting hooked on these products.
The fundamental problem is that the prescription model is yet to be fully enforced. The government has failed to stop the importation of nicotine-containing e-cigarettes by none licensed retailers. The government needs to put in more effort to enforce all laws and regulations regarding schedule 4 medicines and tobacco. This can be complex because there is no clear path for enforcement across all the states. But failure to enforce the law will have more severe consequences for the country as children and teens get hooked on the practice.
