Australia: E-cigarette Users Defend Product in Public Hearing

Source from:  Australia Network news (au) 03/10/2016

E-cigarette was once deemed as a safer　alternative to cigarettes. But recent regulations imposed by various governments around the world make people think twice about the use of the product. For some, however, e-cigarette ban is harsh-even monstrous.

The debate on the use of e-cigarettes has led to a public hearing through a Senate inquiry in Sydney on Wednesday. Former smokers have been invited to give evidence that "vaping safer e-cigarettes" has helped them quit their long-term smoking habit.

The inquiry, according to Australian Associated Press and reported by News.com.au looked into the lives of smokers who consider e-cigarette as vital in kicking the habit out of their system. But to their dismay, the ban made them look like "criminals."

Angela Gordon, 54, was a chain smoker for 35 years. She had numerous failed attempts at quitting until she began to use an e-cigarette. The product she ordered online made her never to pick up a cigarette again. She is now, according to her doctor, a "former smoker."

"Unfortunately, my government considers me a criminal," said Gordon. "My crime is that I quit smoking the wrong way," she told the public hearing.

Now the state also considers her a "trafficker," as the nicotine used in her e-cigarette is classified as a Schedule 7 "dangerous poison." The sale and possession of it is illegal.

Various countries and states around the world have different laws and ordinances about the use of e-cigarettes. Two-thirds of the world has regulated e-cigarettes as of 2015.

BBC reports, for instance, that a Liberal Democrat in the Welsh government has failed in hid bid to scrap the e-cigarette ban on Tuesday. A final vote on the Public Health Bill will take place next week to determine if the e-cigarette ban would push through by spring of 2017. Enditem