Below are extracts from a Reuters news article. Full text here: https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/australia-ban-recreational-va...
SYDNEY, May 2 (Reuters) - Australia said on Tuesday it will ban recreational vaping and tighten other aspects of e-cigarette laws in the biggest crackdown on the tobacco industry in more than a decade to try to stop an alarming rise in teenage vaping.
The government aims to ban all disposable vapes, which often comes in fruity flavours, ban the import of non-prescription vapes and limit nicotine levels, aiming for the sale of vapes to be confined to helping smokers quit.
"Just like they did with smoking, Big Tobacco has taken another addictive product, wrapped it in shiny packaging and added flavours to create a new generation of nicotine addicts," Health Minister Mark Butler said in a speech at the National Press Club...
"This is a product targeted at our kids, sold alongside lollies and chocolate bars," Butler said. "Vaping has now become the number one behavioural issue in high schools. And it's becoming widespread in primary schools as well."...
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org
