New Australian Study Confirms Vaping Can Save Lives

On February 12, according to foreign media reports, a new scientific review focused specifically on Australia’s smoking population is consistent with similar previous studies, showing that nicotine vaping products are effective for smoking cessation and could significantly reduce local smoking rates.

The peer-reviewed study, titled “Can Vaping Help Reduce Smoking in Australia?”, was co-authored by Australian scholars Associate Professor Colin Mendelsohn, Professor Wayne Hall, and Professor Ron Borland, and published in the scientific journal Drug and Alcohol Review.

The researchers found that vaping may play an important role in reducing Australia’s stagnant smoking rate.

Evidence shows that vaping has increased quit attempts and reduced national smoking rates in the UK and the US, where the decline in smoking prevalence has accelerated. In sharp contrast, countries with restrictive vaping policies, such as Australia, have not seen this trend of declining prevalence.

At the same time, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) released the latest version of its national smoking cessation guidelines, marking an unprecedented step in Australia toward supporting the use of vaping products for quitting smoking. The organization has also conducted its own review of the products’ effectiveness and safety, concluding that these devices are a legitimate smoking cessation tool for adult smokers.

Accordingly, the new guidelines recommend that general practitioners and other health professionals advise vaping products to adult smokers who want to quit and who have so far been unsuccessful with conventional smoking cessation products.

This shift in position brings the RACGP into line with other medical associations, including the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, the Royal College of General Practitioners in the UK, and the New Zealand Medical Association.