Cancer Council Tasmania is an organisation that provides information supported by evidence. It was disappointing to read Senator Eric Abetz's view that it makes good sense to wean smokers onto vaping (The Examiner, February 25). There is no evidence to support his claims. The short and long-term health effects of e-cigarettes are currently being researched. It took many years for the harms of tobacco smoking to be understood, so why are we rushing in to support the legalisation of vaping when there is insufficient evidence on understanding the impacts and harms, or not, of vaping.
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There is not enough data available to determine the long-term health effects. Products delivering chemicals directly to the lung are only approved after extensive evaluation on safety and efficacy. E-cigarettes currently on the market in Australia have not passed through this process and have not been proven safe to use, so why should they be encouraged.
Studies increasingly show that e-cigarettes emit harmful substances. The National Health and Medical Research Council advises that e-cigarettes may expose users to chemicals and toxins such as formaldehyde, heavy metals, particulate matter and flavouring chemicals, at levels that have the potential to cause adverse health effects.
There is no evidence to support that they are overwhelmingly better as Senator Abetz purports and insufficient evidence to demonstrate that e-cigarettes are an effective aid to smoking cessation. The Therapeutic Goods Administration has not approved any e-cigarette product as a cessation aid to help with quitting smoking. In fact there is growing evidence which suggests that e-cigarette use in non-smokers is associated with future uptake of tobacco cigarette smoking.
Senator Abetz states that the fear e-cigarettes may encourage young people to smoke has not been borne out and refers to the European experience. However, there is growing evidence that e-cigarette use is a precursor to smoking in young people.
Tasmania does have the highest current smoking rates in Australia besides the Northern Territory. However, it is encouraging to see that the Tasmanian decline in smoking rates between 2014/15 and 2017/18 was the second highest in the country thanks to a number of proven public health strategies. Tasmanian smoking rates have decreased from 24.9 per cent in 2007-08 to 17.6 per cent in 2017-18. Smoking rates have not remained stagnant over the past decade as reported by Senator Abetz.
- Penny Egan is chief executive of Cancer Council Tasmania.