Article posted on Vaping360 - Author: Jin Mcdonald - Translator: The Vape Club
A protest has taken place in front of Victoria's Parliament House organised by vapers in support of the legalisation of nicotine and vaping .
This week, vapers packed the steps of Parliament House in Victoria, Australia, to protest against the state’s new legislation and support the legalization of nicotine in vaping products across the country. They attracted national media attention, and may have had some impact. Nicotine is now considered a dangerous poison in Australia, and it’s illegal – the only exception being nicotine found in traditional cigarettes.
Speakers at the rally included Dr Attila Danko, chair of the New Nicotine Alliance Australia (NNA), and Professor Colin Mendelsohn of the University of New South Wales. Mendelsohn’s speech at the rally was published the same day as an opinion piece in support of nicotine legalisation in The Age newspaper.
“Despite the intuitive ideas behind harm reduction, harm reduction strategies have struggled to overcome resistance in Australia over the years. Proposals such as car seat belts, needle exchanges for injecting users and methadone replacement for heroin users have been opposed but have ultimately become incredibly successful.
The anti-vaping narrative has followed a similar path. The federal government, states and health organisations in Australia have all agreed with the negative views and banned e-cigarettes without considering their health benefits.”
- Quoted from Professor Colin Mendelsohn on The Age -
Over the weekend, Professor Mendelsohn wrote in another opinion piece in Australia’s Huffington Post, arguing that the new laws would add to the burden on stores in the state of Victoria. “The proposed laws focus on avoiding potential risks, but they also ignore the health benefits for smokers,” Professor Mendelsohn wrote. “The legislation could have unintended consequences such as eliminating a medical technology. It could reduce the appeal of vaping and even stifle the industry, allowing an unregulated black market to flourish.”
“E-cigarettes are a huge opportunity for Victorian smokers and have the potential to make significant improvements to public health,” Professor Mendelsohn wrote. “We cannot afford to ignore them.” Professor Mendelsohn is speaking to all Australian vapers, and to those who advocate vaping as a way to reduce the harm from smoking.
