Alison Paul has been a smoker for 30 years and has tried to quit many times.
And she only found success when she started vaping in 2014.
“I kept smoking until I couldn't breathe and was coughing so hard that it felt like all my ribs were going to break,” she shared.
“I got stuck in that cycle. Three years ago, a few days before my birthday, I tried vaping , and I haven't touched a cigarette since.”
Electronic cigarettes work by heating essential oils into vapor that the user inhales.
Using products containing nicotine in Australia is illegal because nicotine itself is considered a poison by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).
“It is legal to import nicotine into Australia, but it is illegal to possess nicotine,” Ms Paul said.
A recent study published in the British Medical Journal has reinforced the conclusion that e-cigarettes are beneficial for people who want to quit smoking.
A study from the University of California looked at whether the increase in e-cigarette use was linked to a decrease in regular cigarette use.
This study analyzed data from 160,000 people and found that of those who had quit smoking, up to 50% had used e-cigarettes.
Researchers involved said the results showed that e-cigarette users were more likely to successfully quit smoking than non-users.
Should Vaping Be Legal in Australia?
The research comes as federal parliament debates whether e-cigarettes should be legalised in Australia.
Ms Paul is one of hundreds of people who have written to the government, begging it to change the law.
But Professor Simon Chapman from the University of Sydney has warned the full harm of e-cigarettes is yet to be fully understood.
He said the product should be properly regulated before it is legal in this country.
“If someone came up with a treatment for cancer or asthma and said we need to take it out of the regulatory rut, we would argue that that is not the way we do things in Australia,” he said.
“And that's why we need strong, reliable evidence to determine whether it really works for the general population as people who have used e-cigarettes claim.”
Professor Chapman questioned why nicotine product manufacturers had not yet submitted samples for testing by the TGA.
“The question is, what are manufacturers afraid of?” he said.
“Manufacturers of nicotine replacement products must submit all evidence that they are effective and safe.”
But product users like Alison Paul say delaying legislation could affect too many people.
“There are a lot of people, especially older people, who are not willing to break the rules to vape with nicotine,” she said.
Source: Allyson Horn - ABC.net.au
Translator: The Vape Club
