Mendelsohn on GFN.tv
Dr Colin Mendelsohn has spoken to GFN.tv about the push to increase the restrictions on vaping in Australia, a point of view that he shares with the Australian Alcohol and other Drugs Council
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by Dave Cross
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Currently, vaping is effectively banned already. It remains illegal to sell, carry or use a vape unless someone has managed to jump through hoops in order to obtain a prescription from their GP.
The authority in charge of making sure that these rules are followed (the TGA) acknowledges that they are failing as people are still managing to obtain vapes and nicotine-containing e-liquid. Consequently, the TGA is spreading a huge amount of misinformation about vaping, including warning people that vaping related illnesses can “be severe,” “cause death,” and cause a “serious and sometimes fatal lung condition”. All of which is absolute nonsense.
The Australian Alcohol and other Drugs Council has said that the main unintended consequence of the current regulations has been the fuelling of an exploding black market – which in turn leads to worse health outcomes and the imprisoning of otherwise stand-up members of the community.
The Council’s chief executive called the situation “perverse”.
Dr Colin Mendelsohn has been researching vaping and campaigning for fairer regulation for many years.
“Australia is the only country classifying nicotine vaping products as prescription-only medicines,” Dr Mendelsohn told GFN.tv. “In all other countries, nicotine e-liquid is classified as a consumer product sold to adults from retail outlets.”
He continued: “The Australian model has been an embarrassing failure. The regulations were designed to allow adults to access nicotine vapes…and to prevent youth vaping. However, they’ve had the opposite effect. Very few doctors are prepared to prescribe nicotine liquid, and it’s almost impossible for vapers to get a prescription legally.”
Dr Mendelsohn agrees with The Australian Alcohol and other Drugs Council in that the black market has led to the proliferation of unregulated, mislabelled products flooding the country, which has led to an unchecked rise in the numbers of teens taking up vaping.
He believes that doubling down on the current harsh approach will simply lead to further failure – all because The Australian Medical Association fails to recognise the success countries such as the United Kingdom have had with a sensible regulated approach to the sale and use of vapes.
Dr Mendelsohn points to the latest Cochrane Review as a source of evidence showing that vaping works and debunks the AMA’s claim that vaping comes with huge risks to the lungs or that vaping works as a gateway to tobacco use.
References:
- “Nicotine under fire in Australia” featuring Dr Colin Mendelsohn, GFN.tv - https://youtu.be/5h10XUpHLRA
Photo Credit:
PHOTO BY SAYMOM LEÃO ON UNSPLASH, ROTATED AND RESIZED
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
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