FEATURE
AUSTRALIA:
Tests reveal nicotine and unlisted
chemicals in ‘nic-free’ juices
The latest media scare only strengthens the argument
that Australia should legalise and regulate vaping
By Gordon Stribling
Australia gets a lot of column inches in Vapouround but
unfortunately, it’s rarely for positive reasons.
Despite having a large vaping community and one of the world’s
most well-known YouTube vapers among its citizens, the
government’s approach to e-cigarettes remains stuck in the past.
Regulations vary state-by-state but for all intents and
purposes, vaping is an illegal practice. E-cigarette users
face fines of up to AUD $45,000 for possessing nicotine-
containing e-liquid without the prescription that many doctors
are unwilling to supply.
So, it will come as no surprise that reductions in smoking have
slowed in recent years. According to the Australian Institute of
Health and Welfare, there was no decline in daily tobacco smoking
between the years 2013 and 2016. In the UK, smoking prevalence
dropped from 18.4 percent to 15.5 percent over the same period.
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According to a recent report by the Australian Bureau of statistics,
Aussies spend AUD $14 billioWn a year on smoking.
Despite this – or perhaps because of the country’s strong
tobacco-control policies – the government has been reluctant
to embrace e-cigarettes.
The latest media furore centres on a recent study published in
the Medical Journal of Australia that led the Therapeutic Goods
Association (TGA) to warn the public of the ‘serious risks’
posed by e-liquids.
Six of the 10 ‘nicotine-free’ e-liquids purchased by researchers at
Curtin University were found to contain nicotine. The tests also
found benign food additives, some chemicals commonly found
in soups, detergents, solvents and pesticides and certain ‘by-
products of animal or human bodily functions.’