New Zealand Lifts E-Cigarette Ban, While Australia Still Requires a Prescription for Nicotine E-Liqu
According to reports from Australian media, restrictions on nicotine vaping products have taken different paths in New Zealand and Australia. New Zealand has lifted its e-cigarette ban, while in Australia, consumers still need a prescription to purchase n
According to News Corp Australia, vaporized nicotine and e-cigarettes are banned in Australia, while they are now legal in New Zealand.
This move will certainly increase pressure on Australian politicians to revise laws related to vaporized nicotine and e-cigarettes.
In the UK, the US, and New Zealand, supporters of e-cigarettes promote them as smoking cessation aids. But in Australia, purchasing liquid nicotine without a prescription can result in heavy fines and possible imprisonment.
Australians who want to buy nicotine e-liquid need a prescription from a qualified pharmacist. Without one, they could face fines or even jail time.
Earlier this year, a federal inquiry report recommended maintaining the ban on vaporized nicotine and e-cigarettes, although the chair of the inquiry submitted a dissenting report calling for legalization.
Committee chair Trent Zimmerman said that if long-term smokers use e-cigarettes as an alternative to tobacco, they could save thousands of lives.
The committee also reviewed the findings of a UK study that urged smokers to embrace vaporized nicotine as a quitting tool, after concluding that e-cigarettes are 95% less harmful than smoking.
At the end of last year, federal health minister Greg Hunt announced that lifting the e-cigarette ban would not happen during his term.
In April this year, New South Wales joined other Australian states in banning the use of any form of vaping devices in public places. Supporters of e-cigarettes said New Zealand's latest move was a "victory for common sense."
Professor Colin Mendelsohn of the University of New South Wales said:
"Most of the harm from burning tobacco is caused by the 7,000 chemicals produced during combustion, and most of these are absent in e-cigarettes. Banning a safer product that could help thousands of smokers quit is immoral and unscientific." New Zealand Associate Health Minister Nicky Wagner said when announcing the change that the scientific evidence on the safety of e-cigarettes is still developing, "but there is a general consensus that vaping devices are far less harmful than smoking."
This move will certainly increase pressure on Australian politicians to revise laws related to vaporized nicotine and e-cigarettes.
In the UK, the US, and New Zealand, supporters of e-cigarettes promote them as smoking cessation aids. But in Australia, purchasing liquid nicotine without a prescription can result in heavy fines and possible imprisonment.
Australians who want to buy nicotine e-liquid need a prescription from a qualified pharmacist. Without one, they could face fines or even jail time.
Earlier this year, a federal inquiry report recommended maintaining the ban on vaporized nicotine and e-cigarettes, although the chair of the inquiry submitted a dissenting report calling for legalization.
Committee chair Trent Zimmerman said that if long-term smokers use e-cigarettes as an alternative to tobacco, they could save thousands of lives.
The committee also reviewed the findings of a UK study that urged smokers to embrace vaporized nicotine as a quitting tool, after concluding that e-cigarettes are 95% less harmful than smoking.
At the end of last year, federal health minister Greg Hunt announced that lifting the e-cigarette ban would not happen during his term.In April this year, New South Wales joined other Australian states in banning the use of any form of vaping devices in public places. Supporters of e-cigarettes said New Zealand's latest move was a "victory for common sense."
Professor Colin Mendelsohn of the University of New South Wales said:
"Most of the harm from burning tobacco is caused by the 7,000 chemicals produced during combustion, and most of these are absent in e-cigarettes. Banning a safer product that could help thousands of smokers quit is immoral and unscientific." New Zealand Associate Health Minister Nicky Wagner said when announcing the change that the scientific evidence on the safety of e-cigarettes is still developing, "but there is a general consensus that vaping devices are far less harmful than smoking."
