Alison Paul has been a smoker for 30 years and has tried to quit many times.
And she only found success when she started vaping in 2014.
“I kept smoking until I couldn't breathe and was coughing so hard it felt like all my ribs were going to break,” she shared.
“I was stuck in that cycle. Three years ago, a few days before my birthday, I tried vaping , and I haven’t touched a cigarette since.”
E-cigarettes work by heating essential oils into vapor that the user inhales.
Using products containing nicotine in Australia is illegal because nicotine itself is considered a poison by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).
“It is legal to import nicotine into Australia, but it is illegal to possess nicotine,” Ms Paul said.
A recent study published in the British Medical Journal has reinforced the conclusion that e-cigarettes are beneficial for people who want to quit smoking.
A study from the University of California looked at whether the increase in e-cigarette use was linked to a decrease in regular cigarette use.
This study analyzed data from 160,000 people and found that of those who quit smoking, up to 50% had used e-cigarettes.
Researchers involved say the results show that e-cigarette users are more likely to successfully quit smoking than non-users.
Should Vaping Be Legal in Australia?
The research comes as federal parliament considers whether e-cigarettes should be legal in Australia.
Mrs Paul is one of hundreds of people who have written to the government, pleading for it to change the law.
But Professor Simon Chapman from the University of Sydney has warned the full harms of e-cigarettes are yet to be thoroughly studied.
He said the product should be properly regulated before it is legal in this country.
“If someone came up with a treatment for cancer or asthma and said we need to take it out of the regulatory rut, we would argue that's not the way we do things in Australia,” he said.
“And that's why we need strong, solid evidence to determine whether it really works for the general population as people who have used e-cigarettes claim.”
Professor Chapman questions why nicotine product manufacturers have not yet submitted samples for TGA testing.
“The question is, what are manufacturers afraid of?” he said.
“Manufacturers of nicotine replacement products must submit all the evidence that they are effective and safe.”
But product users like Alison Paul say delaying legislation could affect too many people.
“There are a lot of people, particularly older people, who are not willing to break the rules to vape with nicotine,” she said.
Source: Allyson Horn - ABC.net.au
Translator: The Vape Club
