MANILA, Philippines,
June 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- An
Asia-Pacific coalition of tobacco harm reduction advocates has
protested the ban imposed by the Australian Therapeutic Goods
Administration (TGA) on the importation of nicotine liquids, saying
this will deprive millions of Australian vapers and existing
smokers of their rights to access better alternatives to
combustible cigarettes.
The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates
(CAPHRA) said the ban on importation of vaping products for
personal use into Australia
effective 1 July means that cigarette smokers looking for safer
alternatives will no longer be able to import these products for
their own personal use.
The ban will cover e-cigarettes containing vaporizer nicotine
(nicotine liquids and salts) and nicotine-containing
refills. Only doctors or medical suppliers will be allowed to
import these products as long as they have a permit from the Health
Department.
According to the new regulatory framework, vapers will have to
visit a general practitioner, get a prescription, and then obtain
their vaping liquids from an approved medical dispensary.
"Smokers in Australia have been
denied access to a proven harm reduction tool and vapers in
Australia have yet again been
dealt a potentially fatal blow which will see many of the 300,000
strong vaping community go back to smoking cigarettes," CAPHRA
Executive Director Nancy Loucas said
in a statement.
CAPHRA said the use of e-cigarettes, heat-not-burn tobacco
products and other electronic nicotine delivery systems are
considered a part of tobacco harm reduction—a public health
strategy that aims to provide alternatives to reduce risks caused
by smoking cigarettes.
Loucas said the ban will only exacerbate the smoking problem
which kills 21,000 Australians a year as this will discourage them
from switching to better alternatives.
Scientific studies have shown that e-cigarettes are 95-percent
less harmful than combustible tobacco because they do not involve
combustion. It has been known for decades that tar, and
carcinogens found in tobacco smoke, cause the death and disease
associated with smoking, and not nicotine. Unlike combustible
cigarettes, THR products do not produce smoke as they deliver
nicotine by heating, and not burning tobacco.
Loucas said the decision by TGA led by Health Minister
Greg Hunt is a direct assault on the
rights of vapers and smokers who are now being forced to keep
smoking in the absence of better alternatives.
"How much more can the people take when their human right to
choose health is up for sale by those who only see the need to keep
collecting the tobacco excise to bolster their coffers? Moreover,
how could anyone in a public health role find this type of
announcement and activity to be in the best interests of public
health defies logic?" she said.
The ban also drew protests from the Australian Tobacco Harm
Reduction Association (ATHRA), the Progressive Public Health
Alliance (PPHA), Aotearoa Vape Community Advocacy (AVCA) and
Legalise Vaping Australia (LVA).
"CAPHRA stands in support of ATHRA, PPHA, AVA and LVA in
denouncing the announcement by the Australian Therapeutic Goods
Administration (TGA) of a crackdown on those importing vaping
products for personal use into the country, with or without a
prescription. From July 1, Border
force will be stepping up enforcement activities and targeting
vapers," said Loucas.
Loucas said she agrees with Brian
Marlow of LVA who said that the new policy "will drive up
the medicare costs and screw over regional and rural smokers and
vapers who aren't able to see a doctor as easily as these
inner-city policymakers can. Smoking rates in rural and regional
areas are already through the roof, this will only make matters
worse."
"Given the weight of overwhelming evidence in relation to the
less harmful nature of vaping products, the only logical thing to
do is appropriately legislate these products as a consumer good
with all of the relevant protections that come with that. The
current regulations to take effect in July are absolutely abysmal,"
Marlow said.
Loucas said the crackdown will also affect vapers who enter
Australia for work or holiday, as
it will be presumed that any vape liquid will contain nicotine and
therefore is a medicine that requires a prescription. "In
effect, this is a total ban on e-liquid vaping in the entire
country of Australia," she
said.
She said the Australian ban, in general, will have implications
in neighbouring New Zealand which
prepares to legalize vaping or the use of electronic
cigarettes.
"It is astonishing that Health Minister Greg Hunt, et.al, would go on a witch-hunt
of this magnitude knowing fully well that across the Tasman,
New Zealand is gearing up to
legalize vaping and provide risk proportionate regulatory
frameworks and guidelines for consumer access and availability to
assist the thousands of smokers in Aotearoa/New Zealand," said Loucas, who is also one of
the co-founders and co-directors of AVCA, the vaping consumer
advocacy organization in New
Zealand.
CAPHRA has encouraged other organizations and affiliated
consumer tobacco harm reduction advocates and experts to support
consumer groups in Australia in
their quest to push for tobacco harm reduction, instead of a ban,
as the more reasonable government policy to address the problem of
smoking.
About CAPHRA
The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates
(CAPHRA) is an alliance of consumer organizations from Australia, Hong
Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, New
Zealand, the Philippines,
South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand that aims to educate, advocate and
represent the right of adult alternative nicotine consumers to
access and use of products that reduce harm from tobacco use.
Contact:
Jena F. Fetalino
+639178150324
241708@email4pr.com
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SOURCE CAPHRA (Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction
Advocates)
