OPINION

AS I puffed away on my menthol cigarette this morning I must admit there was a slight feeling of guilt; it is World No Tobacco Day after all, and there I am sucking down a ciggie.

The idea of no nicotine for a day seems rather absurd for a smoker. I mean, it’s not like I’m going to magically decide to quit cold turkey after one day of nonsmoking.

But more importantly, the thought is slightly terrifying. No smoking for a WHOLE day? No thanks, I’d rather save the office/me that anxiety.

I can hear the nonsmoking brigade now: “Words of an addict!” “Smoking stinks!” “You’re filthy!” “Get that second hand smoke out of my face!”

In fact, you can read it all here. Because as my op-ed shaming the government for unnecessary cigarette hikes earlier this month proved, clearly we’re a nation divided on the issue. And shockingly, there’s more smokers shamed into silence than you may think.

But it might come as a surprise to you that most smokers have entertained the idea, if not tried to quit, numerous times.

What’s even more outrageous is the fact there is an inexpensive and healthier way to quit the fags than paying a hefty price for patches or that gross gum.

And it rids the world of that dirty cigarette smoke and prevents butts being littered across the ground — it’s a win-win for smokers and nonsmokers alike.

But of course, the government is preventing the opportunity for smokers to use this breakthrough method.

They call them, e-cigarettes. Hear me out, people.

The problem with cigarettes is the chemical combustion produced from the toxic smoke in cigarettes causes the most harm to our bodies. But unlike their cousin, e-cigarettes use vapour rather than smoke to minimise the damage.

In fact tobacco treatment specialist Dr Colin Mendelsohn told me e-cigarettes are “relatively harmless”, considering they do not produce carbon monoxide.

He explained how the thousands of chemicals seen in cigarette smoke aren’t found in the vapour, and the chemicals that are present are found in concentrations of less than five per cent.

“For those unwilling to quit, e-cigarettes aim to substitute smoking cigarettes, so smokers are still getting nicotine but not the smoke which causes all the health problems,” Dr Mendelsohn said.

“There are small amounts of toxic chemicals but the overall risk is 95 per cent less than smoking.”

Dr Mendehlsohn described how the long term use of e-cigarettes reduced the risks posed to smokers “dramatically”, because “nothing is being burned in an e-cigarette, it’s a solution being vaporised”.

E-cigarettes are becoming increasingly popular among young adults in Australia, particularly in NSW, where research from more than 3000 tobacco smokers from the Cancer Institute of NSW shows 18-29 year-olds are picking up the habit rather than the expensive ciggies.

The problem is, while e-cigarettes are legal in Australia, nicotine is classified as a dangerous poison, so the sale of nicotine vapour is strictly prohibited, despite the legal sale of cigarettes.

The ban is creating all sorts of problems for smokers forced to purchase quantities of e-cigarettes and their liquid on the black market. But black market e-cigarettes are a dangerous gamble; we’ve read about exploding e-cigarettes, like this one in a man’s mouth, and this poor fella who lost an eye.

“The trouble is because they’re illegal, they’re not regulated, so there’s no safety or labelling standards,” Dr Mendelsohn said.

“I worry about what people are buying overseas, you don’t know what’s the standard or quality of the product.

“We need to make it available legally to improve those risks.”

But campaigning for change is “a complicated issue”,” Dr Mendelsohn explains.

“There’s a lot of vested interests that have locked themselves into campaigning against tobacco,” he said.

“The idea of having people still do what looks like smoking and allows nicotine goes against the traditional model.”

But in the UK, instead of scorning e-cigarettes, government organisations, notably Public Health England, are actually recommending smokers use e-cigarettes and training health professionals to prescribe them.

“It’s easier to give up cigarettes if you’re changing over to something very similar,” Dr Mendehlsohn argued.

“The UK has followed smoking behaviour for many years now in e-cigarettes. Trials on success rates are fairly clear that e-cigarettes help people quit and cut down smoking.

“There’s good evidence they are improving people’s health. Smoking rates are falling very sharply, and e-cigarette rates are creating huge benefits to public health.

“The evidence supports they’re effective and safe.”

Of course, no trials have been produced in Australia, so we don’t know what the benefits are here.

But, as Dr Mendelsohn so succinctly sums up, “compared to smoking the risks are minimal”.

Perhaps there’s hope for us all.

Note: An Australian website has developed a way to make liquid nicotine available on prescription for smokers who want to use it with their vaping or e-cigarettes to quit. It allows legal access to liquid nicotine for people to include with their vaping and e-cigarettes. For more information, visit www.nicopharm.com.au.

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