Legalizing E-Cigarettes Could Save the Lives of New Zealand Smokers (Photos)

The lives of thousands of New Zealand smokers could be saved by legalizing the domestic sale of nicotine-containing e-cigarettes, according to a leading supplier.

Cosmic, which sells the products despite current laws prohibiting such devices, was expected to submit a proposal today calling for legalization, a move that has already received support from some public health experts in New Zealand and overseas.

There is real potential for Maori smokers

Professor Chris Bullen

Public Health England, which helped transform official opinion on e-cigarettes in New Zealand, says nicotine delivery systems can help smokers quit and carry only a small fraction of the risk associated with smoking tobacco.

Professor Chris Bullen of the University of Auckland, who led the world’s first high-quality trial comparing e-cigarettes with nicotine patches for smoking cessation, said: “I don’t think they are a magic bullet.

They are not the only thing that will get us to the Smokefree 2025 goal, but I think they will help us make breakthroughs with certain groups we haven’t seen before.

“There is real potential for Maori smokers.”

His team’s 2013 trial found that nicotine e-cigarettes were about as effective as patches, but he said the e-cigarettes sold today are superior to those used in the trial, which delivered less nicotine than cigarettes.

“Experienced users can [now] get nicotine delivery comparable to smoking a standard cigarette.”

About 546,000 New Zealanders smoke every day, representing 15% of the adult population. On average, at least 13 people die each day from smoking-related illnesses, or about 5,000 per year. Half of all smokers die from smoking-related disease, and on average they die 14 years earlier than they would have if they had not smoked.

Many smokers and e-cigarette users will be watching closely for the Ministry of Health’s response to submissions on its proposal to legalize and regulate e-cigarettes. The ministry said it had received more than 100 submissions. It will provide advice to the government later this year on proposed amendments to the Smoke-free Environments Act.

A group of University of Otago researchers is arguing that e-cigarettes and liquid nicotine should not be sold in dairies, supermarkets, and gas stations, and that supply should instead be restricted to pharmacies or licensed vape shops.

Users vape on an e-cigarette by inhaling nicotine-containing vapor, whereas smokers inhale smoke from tobacco cigarettes, which contains nicotine as well as many carcinogens.

Cosmic, which sells through seven retail stores nationwide and an online business, says it has gained extensive knowledge about e-cigarettes from the thousands of customers who have purchased its devices.

“There is no doubt these new devices currently represent the best option for helping traditional cigarette smokers cut down or quit entirely,” said chain owner Mark Caswell. “Part of the reason is that they provide an ‘oral fix’ that nicotine patches do not.”

In the UK, e-cigarettes are the most commonly used smoking cessation aid among smokers trying to quit, used by 35%, compared with 27% who use nicotine replacement therapy.

Some researchers believe e-cigarettes pose a “gateway” risk to youth smoking, but Bullen said there is no evidence of that.

He and colleagues in the National Smokefree Working Group recommend that, at first, only vape shops with trained staff that provide smoking cessation support, pharmacies, and online stores should be allowed to sell e-cigarettes.

Bullen supports later allowing supermarkets — but not dairies or gas stations — to stock them “if there is no evidence of youth uptake or other harms.”

His research team has already begun a new trial comparing quit rates among three groups of smokers: one using only daily nicotine patches, another using patches plus nicotine e-cigarettes, and a third using patches plus nicotine-free e-cigarettes. All participants will receive standard telephone-based behavioral support.