Urgent action for e-cigarette epidemic
Quit Victoria, VicHealth and Cancer Council Victoria are calling for urgent action to protect current and future generations from becoming dependent on harmful e-cigarettes and start smoking.
The Four Corners program on ABC recently showed the extent to which importers and retailers in a multi-billion-dollar industry are breaking the law, by selling e-cigarettes to children.
Recently the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) released a comprehensive evidence review, which concluded that e-cigarette aerosol is harmful to health and that people who use e-cigarettes are highly likely to go on to smoke.
“The NHMRC review found that e-cigarettes present very real dangers to children and youth,” said VicHealth Chief Executive Officer Dr Sandro Demaio.
“We’re hearing from parents and community leaders, and teens themselves, that vaping is a huge issue for communities around Victoria.
“The liquid in e-cigarettes contains dozens of toxic chemicals including formaldehyde, nicotine and heavy metals. These are chemicals that are known to cause cancer and damage the brain and do not belong in our lungs.”
Cancer Council Victoria Chief Executive Officer Todd Harper said that surveys conducted by the Cancer Council had shown high levels of community support for measures that protect children from vaping and smoking.
“There are serious community concerns right now and strong support for action,” Mr Harper said.
“The need for a licensing scheme for cigarette and e-cigarette retailers in Victoria, to simplify and strengthen enforcement of laws, is now critical.
“We need the federal government to do more to stop unlawful e-cigarette imports, sure, but we also need to ensure there are consequences for retailers in Victoria who are knowingly doing the wrong thing and illegally selling harmful e-cigarettes to children.
“The Victorian Government has the opportunity to introduce a gold-standard licensing scheme and really show the way in Australia.”
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