E-cigarettes at mercy of bureaucrats writes Senator David Leyonhjelm
It seems e-cigarettes are at mercy of bureaucrats, writes newly appointed Senator, David Leyonhjelm in an article published today in the Australian Financial Review.
'It seems everything is illegal in Australia unless a bureaucrat gives permission. What’s worse, you have to go to the trouble and expense of asking for permission, because if bureaucrats were proactive they would run the risk of serving the public....A good example is the case of e-cigarettes. These inhalers deliver a warm puff of nicotine, without the carcinogenic tar and industrial solvents of cigarette smoke.'
‘In Australia, it is illegal to sell e-cigarettes to deliver nicotine. Not because a bureaucrat has made a decision to ban them, but because no one has yet asked the right bureaucrat for permission.’
Why is banning-by-default the starting point when there is over 10 million people using e-cigarette across the globe and international counterparts such as the Royal College of Physicians, which concluded that e-cigarettes offer massive potential to improve public health by giving smokers a much safer alternative to tobacco smoke.
Australia has health advocates who want the government to be open minded about e-cigarettes as a means of harm reduction and the more healthy open debate we have perhaps the greater opportunity to get e-cigarettes on the government’s agenda.
We encourage you to read the full article here and get in touch with your local government representatives to share your views on electronic cigarettes.
The Liberal Democratic Party has a seat in the Senate representing NSW their Senator is David Leyonhjelm, who began his six year term in July 2014. You can follow Senator is David Leyonhjelm via Facebook andor Twitter