Aussies conduct trial on ecigs replacing tobacco

[Mark]

Shamelessly stolen this link from VTTV. Australia is a country where you can buy ecigs but have to get your ejuice from abroad as its not allowed to be sold. No Aussie vendors.

Someone has had the idea of BANNING SMOKING entirely ...but allowing ecigs. Hmmm. Views?

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/health/2...ce-tobacco-smoking-with-electronic-cigarettes

Of course over here we bemoan the fact that there is this massive push to regulate ecigs yet fags are on sale every where....

 

[whit77]

That will just create a massive black market for tobacco, pure insanity IMO

 

[Purplefowler]

Well my heart says that this would be a great way to go but my head has over ruled and has said that prohibition has never worked and freedom of choice should be respected! You can lead a horse to ecigs but you can't make him vape-believe me, I've tried

 

[Fleabag]

It makes more sense than the current proposal of effectively banning e-cigs, but leaving tobacco as freely available as now, but banning tobacco just wouldn't work.
Funny though - they managed to withdraw legal opium from the public, but never had the courage to do the same with tobacco. Perhaps it's just the sheer numbers dependent on tobacco that makes the difference.

 

[Midnight]

Crikey, banning tobacco entirely?... surely that would lead to some sort or anarchy! :/

 

[HAZZA1962]

By the time this Government finally decide what there really going to do about e-cigs in 2016 there'll be 5000,000 people vaping(rough guess) thats some army to deal with!!!!

 

[Fleabag]

I can't see the legislation going through. Aside from legal position, there will be countless research projects in the early stages now that will be completed by then and we can be confident they will support our position.

Not only medical research to counter the current scaremongering of dangerous liquids and proving health benefits to switching to vaping, but also psychology studies on vaping (my sister lectures on research in a university psychology department and is looking at a study on vaping).

By 2016, there will be a huge number of vapers out there and a significant drop in cigarette sales. They won't be able to ignore those figures.

 

[VaperCaper]

When will govts. realise that prohibition is a really really really dumb idea.

While allowing e-cigs 'free reign' as it were is a great thing - doing so at the expense of another thing is beyond stupid.

People want to use drugs, end of discussion. Whether that drug is caffeine or nicotine or alcohol or <insert drug of choice here> people will want to use it and there will be a market for it.

If said drug is sooo popular then many many people will use it and the black market for supplying it will be so big very bad stuff will happen (see USA circa 1920) tobacco would be on the same kind of level as alcohol prohibition (and it's harder to kick a smoking habit than alcohol)

The ideal thing to do is to let e-cigs be freely available, put in place an age restriction and some regs to ensure quality/purity etc. Then sit back and watch while tobacco use declines to a tiny fraction of what it is today, no stupid prohibition laws required. Hell they can even put a 'sin tax' on it and it still wouldn't make a difference.

It's called progress. Most people that try vaping prefer vaping to smoking, so given time most people who choose to use nicotine will vape. Some people will still smoke but that's their choice.

What business is it of any government what an individual does, provided that individual doesn't harm anyone but themselves?
None of their dam business.

 

[Mark]

It's also here

http://www.smh.com.au/national/heal...ial-tests-if-vapour-safer-20130914-2trj1.html

 

[James]

I blogged about this too, but I am not sure how valid the story is. According to this link: http://www.uq.edu.au/news/?article=26709 the journalist got at least one part of the story wrong, and the study is not being funded by the Australian government.

If it is true, I agree with VaperCaper that it isn't the best way forward - apart from other factors, it could well lead to a backlash against e-cigarettes from people who would otherwise have tried it.