Page 1122 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 5 April 2016
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The measures in the bill also protect against the renormalisation of smoking behaviours in our community. The hard-fought gains made in tobacco control over previous decades have seen the ACT record the lowest rate of adult daily smoking in Australia. The most recent national drug strategy household survey shows that the adult daily smoking rate in the ACT is the lowest of all Australian states and territories, at 9.9 per cent.
Personal vaporisers are devices designed to produce a vapour that the user inhales. Many of these devices use an electronic element to heat liquid to produce vapour and are used in a manner that simulates smoking. The visual, physio sensory and behavioural aspects of personal vaporisers simulate the act of tobacco smoking. Personal vaporiser technology is continually evolving, and there are a wide variety of products on the market that differ in their design, operation and appearance.
Some devices are made to look like tobacco products such as cigarettes or pipes, whereas some resemble everyday items such as pens and lipsticks. Personal vaporisers can either be disposable or reusable. Most devices include a battery, an air flow sensor, an aerosol generator and e-liquid. E-liquids are often flavoured, with thousands of flavours currently available such as tobacco, confectionery, fruit and chocolate. Personal vaporisers may or may not contain nicotine and may or may not be correctly labelled as containing nicotine.
The bill uses the term “personal vaporiser” in order to encompass the breadth of devices currently on the market and allow flexibility to include devices that may emerge in the future as the technology and market evolve. The prevalence of personal vaporiser use in Australia is relatively low when compared to other countries. Data collected from the 2013 national drug strategy household survey showed one in seven, or 14.8 per cent of smokers surveyed, aged 14 or older had used battery operated e-cigarettes in the previous 12 months. Younger smokers were more likely to have used an e-cigarette in the previous 12 months than older smokers—27 per cent for smokers aged 18 to 24 compared with 7.2 per cent for those aged 60 to 69.
The potential risks and benefits of personal vaporisers are the subject of much debate among tobacco control and public health experts. But currently there is insufficient evidence to conclude that personal vaporisers are safe. Although using personal vaporisers may be less harmful than tobacco in terms of exposure to toxic chemicals, they are unlikely to be completely harmless.
Experts are concerned that personal vaporisers may pose health risks to both users and bystanders. Research has indicated that bystanders are passively exposed to vapour exhaled by personal vaporiser users, which can include harmful chemicals and particulate matter. Some personal vaporiser liquids have been reported to contain chemicals such as propylene glycol, glycerol or ethylene glycol, which may form toxic or cancer-causing compounds when vaporised.
These concerns are further compounded by the substantial variation in the components and operation of different personal vaporiser products. Some may contain nicotine and the nicotine content can vary considerably. It is crucial to note that
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