Page 945 - Week 03 - Thursday, 10 March 2016
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The measures in the bill also protect against the renormalisation of smoking behaviours in the community. These hard-fought gains in tobacco control made over previous decades have seen the ACT record the lowest rate of adult daily smoking in Australia and continue the ACT’s long history of achievement and national leadership on tobacco control.
The bill will also reduce the risk of personal vaporisers acting as a gateway to tobacco use for non-smokers, especially for children and young people. Personal vaporisers are devices designed to produce a vapour that the user inhales. Many devices use an electric element to heat liquid to produce vapour, and these devices are used in a manner that simulates smoking.
I am pleased to announce that this bill will introduce restrictions on personal vaporiser sales and promotion in the ACT in line with existing restrictions on tobacco and herbal products. This includes prohibiting the sale of e-cigarettes to under-18s and restricting in store and point-of-sale advertisements and displays.
This bill will also prohibit the use of personal vaporisers in legislated smoke-free areas, including all enclosed public places, for example, shopping centres, cinemas, office buildings, buses, taxis, restaurants, pubs and clubs, outdoor eating or drinking places, under-age music functions and in cars when children are present.
The bill amends the Tobacco Act 1927 to regulate the sale and promotion of personal vaporisers in the same way as tobacco and herbal products and apply the same offences for non-compliance. It also amends the Smoke-Free Public Places Act 2003 and Smoking in Cars with Children (Prohibition) Act 2011 to prohibit the use of personal vaporisers in legislated smoke-free areas and apply the same offences for non-compliance.
The bill also makes changes to the Smoke-Free Public Places Act 2003 to clarify the application of existing smoke-free laws at outdoor eating and drinking places. This bill utilises the existing regulatory framework for tobacco control to facilitate compliance and enforcement with the measures, avoiding the need to establish a separate licensing system.
There are a wide variety of personal vaporiser products that differ in their design, operation and appearance, as personal vaporiser technology is continually evolving. Some devices are made to look like tobacco products such as cigarettes or pipes, whereas some resemble everyday items such as pens and lipsticks. This amendment bill uses the term “personal vaporiser” in order to encompass the breadth of personal vaporisers currently on the market and allow flexibility to include devices that may emerge in the future as the technology and market evolve.
From a long-term health perspective, personal vaporisers are yet to be proven to be safe to use, and widespread use risks renormalising tobacco smoking in the community. In March 2015 the National Health and Medical Research Council advised:
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