MEDIA RELEASE -24 June 2015

The Greens NSW health spokesperson Jeremy Buckingham today said he was very pleased that the government had accepted amendments to strengthen the regulation of electronic cigarettes that will treat it like tobacco, but said the parliament needed to go further to ensure vaping in public places was covered by the Smoke Free Environment Act.

“It’s a great that not only will the sale of e-cigarettes to children will be banned, but the display, marketing and advertising of e-cigarettes will be heavily restricted, like tobacco,” said Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham.

“Most e-cigarettes contain highly addictive nicotine, so it is responsible to restrict their marketing to stop children or others becoming hooked on nicotine.

“Tobacco smokers who want to switch to e-cigarettes will still be allowed to do this, but aggressive marketing campaigns aimed at making e-cigarettes attractive and re-normalising smoking will now be banned.

“Unfortunately the parliament did not agree to amendments to regulate vaping under the Smoke Free Environment Act, which means it is still legal to smoke an e-cigarette on public transport, or in a cafe, in a school, or even in the parliamentary chamber. This must be rectified in the near future.”

Contact: Max Phillips –0419 444 916