Posted on Motherboard - Author: Kaleigh Roger - Translator: The Vape Club
The world is still clueless about what to do with e-cigarettes . While the US is adding new e-cigarette laws and enacting them, the New Zealand government is seriously considering lifting the ban on the devices that have been banned in the country since they first appeared ten years ago.
Different approaches to the issue demonstrate that the central issue in the e-cigarette debate is: does the potential of e-cigarettes to help people quit smoking outweigh their risks?
“The effects of e-cigarettes on long-term users and their effects on non-users exposed to e-cigarette smoke are still unclear.”
These are the lines written on the petition to change the bill of the New Zealand Ministry of Health.
“At the same time, there has been scientific evidence that e-cigarettes are less harmful than smoking. There is also evidence that e-cigarettes significantly reduce smoking-related diseases.”
New Zealand is considering allowing the sale of nicotine-containing e-cigarettes.
While the New Zealand government initially took a tough stance on e-cigarettes, it has supported efforts to better understand the risks and benefits of e-cigarettes. A government-funded study in 2013 was the first to demonstrate the smoking reduction potential of vaping , showing that e-cigarette users were just as likely to quit as nicotine patch users. There are many more studies showing that e-cigarettes are less harmful than cigarettes, which is one of the reasons why New Zealand is in need of a change of stance.
Currently, selling nicotine-containing e-cigarettes is illegal in New Zealand, and you can only buy nicotine-free e-cigarettes or import e-cigarettes containing nicotine for your own use. But the government is moving to loosen the ban, allowing the sale of e-cigarettes containing nicotine, but still prohibiting use by those under 18 and prohibiting advertising of e-cigarettes. The bill is not yet complete, with the New Zealand Ministry of Health waiting for public feedback to finalize the laws, but the government has “agreed that e-cigarettes containing nicotine are legal to sell in New Zealand,”.
Meanwhile, e-cigarette laws in the US are getting even tighter. The FDA’s proposed rule went into effect on August 8. This means that next week, the FDA will enforce regulations nationwide, including banning the sale of e-cigarettes to minors and banning free samples. Many of the bills have been welcomed by the vaping community, but the bill also requires e-cigarette companies to complete a lengthy and expensive registration process that many e-cigarette advocates say will bankrupt them.
The FDA bill has passed.
The biggest concern for regulators is youth use of e-cigarettes, which is a problem that the US, New Zealand, and other countries are facing. But the ban on underage access to e-cigarettes is different from the one in New Zealand, or if it is like the US, it is likely that the e-cigarette industry will collapse under the new legislation. These rigid laws limit the potential of e-cigarettes to help smokers quit, and may even encourage people to continue or return to smoking.
As governments grapple with approaches and remedies to the problem, it is helpful to look at the policies put in place by different countries.
