Miranda Live: Should NSW ban e-cigarettes and ‘vaping’?
HARMLESS habit of hipsters and almost reformed smokers — or dangerous health risk? NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard wants e-cigarettes and “vaping” banned from public places in NSW.
HARMLESS habit of hipsters and almost reformed smokers — or dangerous health risk? NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard wants e-cigarettes and “vaping” banned from public places in NSW.
Mr Hazzard is expected to take a proposal to cabinet this week, calling for a ban on e-cigarettes in already smoke free areas.
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He sat down with the Daily Telegraph’s Miranda Devine on her online radio show Miranda Live to discuss the proposed ban, which has the backing from groups such as the Cancer Council, Council on Smoking Health and the Heart Foundation.
Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory have all banned “vaping” inside.
But the push has been attacked by the likes of the Australian Taxpayers Alliance, who say e-cigarettes are a healthier alternative to tobacco and smoking.
“Unlike cigarettes, vapes do not contain tobacco and do not produce smoke.” ATA’s director of policy Satyajeet Marar said.
“A British Medical Journal study notes that “smokers smoke for the nicotine but die from the tar.” his is why doctors and health agencies in the UK recommend vaping to smokers as a way to improve their health and quit smoking — a habit that kills 19,000 Australians a year.”
But Mr Hazzard dismissed claims he was trying to enforce a blanket ban on vaping.
“You can smoke a cigarette to your heart’s content in your home — but you can’t in public places where you might impact on a pregnant lady or someone with asthma,” he told Devine.
“The government is not seeking to ban e-cigarettes, you can happily e-vape at home or in a place you could normally smoke a cigarette.
“But you can’t do it on a bus or a train — you can smoke or e-vape to your heart’s content, as long as you’re not hurting someone else.”
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