Australian Expert: Strict Regulation of the Adult Consumer Market Is the Only Way to Eliminate the V

Today, on May 1, news from foreign media reports that Dr. Colin Mendelsohn, a member of the Australian Smoking Cessation Guidelines Expert Advisory Group and founding chair of the Australian Tobacco Harm Reduction Association, analyzed the possibility of Australia resolving the current vaping crisis.

Here is the full text:

Let's take a step back.

Two years ago, vaping was on the fringes of our collective consciousness—a less harmful product used to help smokers quit.

In just 24 months, we have reached a situation where headlines about vaping abuse are carelessly appearing on the front pages of our newspapers every day.

Vaping has been viewed as a scourge on society.

Vaping is no longer discussed as a life-saving potential for smokers but as a product that attracts a new generation of nicotine users.

What has changed?

Back in 2020, the previous government announced new restrictions on vaping. Smokers now need to obtain a nicotine prescription from a doctor to legally switch to vaping.

These changes occurred during Australia's largest health crisis and a time of severe doctor shortages.

Few doctors are willing to prescribe nicotine, and even fewer pharmacists are willing to dispense it, leaving consumers and overwhelmed health insurance to bear unnecessary additional costs.

At the time, I said these changes were very dangerous and would severely hinder adult smokers' attempts to quit and create a predatory black market.

Now, we are witnessing the results of one of the biggest public health policy failures in the past decade.

The black market is everywhere, with low-quality disposable vapes openly sold to young people nationwide.

Vaping is rampant in our schools. And those who need to quit the most have been left behind by the government that should support them.

The new government in 2022 saw a great opportunity to finally implement progressive tobacco harm reduction policies and support nearly 3 million smokers and 2 million adult vaping users.

Unfortunately, the federal government has fallen victim to sensational misinformation and excluded progressive reforms that could address the widespread issues currently present in our country.

As 2022 draws to a close, they announced consultations with the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) proposing misguided reforms that they claimed would address the black market and facilitate access for smokers wishing to quit.

Instead, as more adult smokers and quitters are forced into the dangerous black market, fueling the power of the black market and putting more young people at risk, the proposed reforms by the TGA will further harm public health.

Without publicly disclosing its recommendations, the TGA is now working with the federal government to provide advice on these potential reforms.

It needs to be clear that strict regulation of the adult consumer market is the only way to eliminate the black market.

Any other regulatory approach will fail.

Despite the TGA's proposals, effective nicotine vaping policies have made positive progress at both the federal and state levels.

The National Party is placing its power behind a sensible consumer model.

This is an important step and a firm commitment to evidence-based reforms that will work.

In New South Wales, the Greens have announced an election commitment to regulate nicotine vaping products as consumer goods.

The Tasmanian Greens have also expressed support. The progressive harm reduction approach of the New South Wales Labor Party is expected to lead to the implementation of similarly effective reforms.

We are also receiving inquiries from the Queensland and Northern Territory parliaments regarding vaping regulations.

For now, the question of how to regulate these products has become an emotional issue.

Emotion and policy will never align.

Public policy should be evidence-based.

In fact, we know that vaping is 95% less harmful than smoking.

We know it is the most effective and popular smoking cessation aid. We know that prohibition policies always lead to dangerous black markets.

With the right regulations, adult smokers and quitters will obtain these products from a safe and regulated market, with strict safeguards to prevent youth access.

We are at a turning point.

The TGA and the federal health department stubbornly pursue policy goals that will only fail.

But there is hope. Some of our legislators are finally beginning to push for effective reforms. #p#分页标题#e#

The decisions they make now will either lead to an increasingly severe public health disaster or turn the current vaping regulations into a gradually fading black mark in our nation's history.