With new vaping regulations set to be introduced in New Zealand, three smoking cessation experts believe it’s time for Kiwi lawmakers to focus on the scientific evidence that vaping is an effective and convenient smoking cessation tool. The evidence was published in an article in the NZ Herald.
New Zealand is making good progress with its tobacco-reduction campaigns, with the health minister known for being the first to propose legalizing nicotine- containing e-liquids , and the government intends to continue raising taxes on traditional cigarettes as part of its plan to make New Zealand smoke-free by 2025.
Clive Bates, director of a consultancy and a passionate vaping advocate, David Sweanor, a Canadian lawyer who has been active in tobacco control since the 1980s, and Murray Laugesen, a University of Canterbury professor and e-cigarette researcher, said switching to vaping products could benefit more than half a million New Zealanders who smoke.
List of evidence
Here are the points that have been made:
- According to the UK Public Health Center, smokers who switch to vaping can avoid 95% of cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases related to smoking. They will also have certain health and financial benefits, especially in countries with heavy tobacco taxes like New Zealand.
- It is unethical to deny smokers access to a product that provides nicotine but is safer.
- There is no real evidence that vaping causes young people to start smoking. There is only evidence that people are using a safer product to help them quit smoking.
- E-cigarette users only spend their own money when switching from smoking to vaping, without affecting the community's finances.
- Everyone knows that e-cigarette vapor will not cause the same harm as regular cigarette vapor, because e-cigarette vapor is just water vapor.
- Products from reputable manufacturers are very popular and are exported to Europe, North America and Asia without any problems.
Experts continue to debate how to license stores that sell these products, and while researchers have suggested that vape shops and pharmacies should be licensed, others have argued that e-cigarettes should be sold in New Zealand supermarkets and that related products such as batteries and accessories should be sold in vape shops. They argue that pharmacies are not an ideal place to sell e-cigarettes, as pharmacy staff do not have sufficient knowledge or understanding of these products.
Experts agree there should be different regulations for smokers and vapers
The next point they discussed was the issue of advertising, pointing out that although e-cigarettes can help people quit smoking and selling these products is indeed beneficial to public health, they should not be advertised publicly. The government also stated that advertising regulations should be different for e-cigarette sellers and traditional cigarette sellers.
Bates, Sweanor and Lausegen concluded their article by addressing the debate over vaping in public places. They reiterated the Public Health England article that stated that smokers and vapers should not be allowed to share the same space, and also said “It is wrong to deny vapers their own space.”
This article was published on Vapingpost by Diane Caruana and translated by The Vape Club.
