Is it too late for the “vaping genie” to be put back in the bottle? To an extent, I agree with Australian Health Minister Mark Butler, who claims that the right time to have done this was five years ago, and having failed to do that, the next best time is now!
I think tighter regulation of vaping advertising, marketing, and sales is essential, but the new laws in Australia present challenges; prohibition rarely works, and the new legislation should incorporate more help for those addicted to vaping to get free from their addiction.
It’s been proven time and again that bullying and demonising smokers doesn’t help them to quit, and the same goes for those addicted to vaping.
It can create a siege mentality, making addicts less resistant to seek help to quit, and amongst youngsters, it can create the rebellious allure of “forbidden fruit” available via a burgeoning black market.
It does seem peculiar that vaping, pitched as a harm reduction product, should be less readily available than cigarettes, which kill one in two of the people who use them, so perhaps tighter controls on the sale of cigarettes as well as vapes makes more sense.
Plain packaging, no point-of-sale marketing or display, and seriously big fines and prison sentences for store owners who flout age restrictions would be a positive way forward for cigarettes and vape regulations.
Can we force the vaping genie back into the bottle? No. What we can do, though, is protect the next generation of kids from being targeted by Big Nicotine and help those already addicted to get free.
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