I am writing as a member of the public concerned about the adverse health impacts of tobacco smoking in Australia and the fact that our present laws prohibit smokers from switching to safer alternatives.

Smoking kills and everyone knows that the best solution to reduce harm from smoking is to quit smoking. The most popular and proven-effective aids for quitting smoking are Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) – usually known as “e-cigarettes”, “vaping” or “personal vaporisers”. ENDS deliver nicotine which satiate smoker cravings without the deadly tar and particles generated by combustible tobacco smoking as in cigarettes, and with far higher effectiveness rates than other Nicotine Replacement Therapies such as patches and gums that are legal at present. I note that the UK Royal College of Physicians concluded that the harm from “e-cigarettes available today is unlikely to exceed 5% of the harm from smoking tobacco” and that “there is no evidence that e-cigarette use has resulted in renormalisation of smoking.”

It makes no make sense that cigarettes, which are far more dangerous to smoke, remain legal and widely available while safer consumer nicotine options are banned. Public health authorities around the world have recommended vaping as a quit-smoking tool. In the European Union alone, over 6 million adults have given up their cigarette habit by switching to e-cigarettes. Legalising vaping WILL save hundreds of thousands of Australian lives, and it is time for our government to act.