Smokers turn to vaping e-cigarettes to beat the high price of smoking

SMOKERS are circumventing high cigarettes prices by turning to vaporisers and cheap nicotine cartridges online, for just $15 for a week’s smoking.

E-cigarettes, at a fraction of the price of a normal cigarette, are becoming increasingly popular. Photo: Mark Cranitch.

SMOKERS are circumventing high cigarettes prices by turning to vaporisers and buying cheap nicotine cartridges online, with a week’s worth of “smokes” costing just $15.

Vaporisers also are being marketed as safer alternative to cigarettes, but health experts warn they are just as dangerous.

The battery-operated personal vaporisers, or e-cigarettes, simulate the look and feel of smoking using a refillable cartridge of nicotine or vapour solution to create vapour which the user inhales.

Vaping is subject to the same laws as regular cigarettes: they can’t be sold to anyone under 18 or used in public places.

While you can buy the flavour capsules locally, it is illegal to sell or have nicotine capsules in Queensland.

But that isn’t stopping cash-strapped smokers from buying online.

After an outlay of about $45 for the device, it costs $15-20 for 10ml of nicotine which online retailer Vapor Kings estimates equals about 100 cigarettes.

It calculates a smoker currently spending $140 a week on cigarettes, would only spend $15 using nicotine capsules.

Vaping is the new smoking, with cheap products available online. Photo Mark Cranitch.

The numbers stack up further in favour of the vaporisers if the increase in excise announced in the May Budget pushes a packet of smokes up from $25 to $40.

Online retailers suggest vaporisers can help smokers quit by restricting the strength of nicotine they inhale or by diluting it with flavour capsules.

The Cancer Council of Queensland wants a ban on all e-cigarettes because the health risks are unknown.

Spokeswoman Katie Clift says there is a lack of long-term scientific evidence to support the safety of e-cigarettes.

“It’s a serious concern their use could lead to nicotine addiction and the uptake of tobacco smoking among young people,” Ms Clift said.

“Products currently on the market in Australia have not been approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration for safety, quality and efficacy, even though the products deliver substances to the lung. This is a significant risk to consumers, who may be under the false impression that electronic cigarettes available for sale have been proven safe to use.”

Some Australian schools have confiscated e-cigarettes.

Originally published as Smokers turn to vaping e-cigarettes to beat the high price of smoking