Australia’s Harsh Nicotine Laws Looming – Malaysian Vape Industry Calls For Regulation – India’s Vapers Poignant Tweet and Show Me Your Waterfall…

Nicotine ‘Illegal’ In Australia From October

Australia’s harsh new nicotine laws are weeks away and vapers are being urged to get their nicotine prescriptions sorted now before it’s too late.

As of October 1st 2021, nicotine and nicotine based e-liquids will be deemed illegal unless the user has a valid prescription.

Any company importing nicotine faces fines of up to $11 million AUS and vapers will be breaking the law if they buy from overseas websites.

Personal users caught buying nicotine and nicotine based e-liquids from overseas face fines of up to $222 for each offence maxing out at $222,000.

Disgusting.

However, nicotine based patches, sprays and gums are exempt…well the bloody well would be wouldn’t they given they are no where near as effective as vaping!

The writing has been on the wall for a long time down under and the reason given is as you might guess…to save the children.

FFS…bangs head on desk yet again…

AS for the reasoning behind Australia’s harsh nicotine laws, the government says:

There has been a significant increase in the use of nicotine e-cigarettes by young people in Australia and in many other countries.

Between 2015 and 2019, e-cigarette use by young people increased by 96 per cent in Australia.

There is evidence that nicotine e-cigarettes act as a ‘gateway’ to smoking in youth and exposure to nicotine in adolescents may have long-term consequences for brain development.

The changes strike a balance between the need to prevent young people from taking up nicotine e-cigarettes while allowing current smokers to access these products for smoking cessation on their doctor’s advice.

It’s all total BS and the some…and we’ve put those crazy conclusions to the sword so many times it’s untrue…but still governments persist in spraying false facts at every turn

Sad times indeed and for the record almost 25,000 smokers die from lit tobacco related diseases each year in the country…vaping I hazard a guess is a big fat zero.

It’s absolutely criminal, and of course, lit tobacco remains on sale…

For more information on the new legislation, checkout the excellent ATHRA post on the matter.

For more background on how the hell Australia’s harsh nicotine laws came into force, check out my articles showing the slow creep to where we are today:

• Australia’s Harsh Nicotine Law Passes
• Australia’s Nicotine Ban – A “Death Sentence” For Vapers and Smokers
• Australian Vape Advocacy Group Legalise Vaping Chats With EcigClick
• The War On Vaping In Asia and Australia – What The Hell Is Going On?

Malaysian Vape Industry Must Be Regulated

As the Malaysian Government dithers over what to do about vaping the country’s vape industry is calling for it to be regulated.

Right now there is a tax on most things vape and this, says Rizani Zakaria, the President of the Malaysian Vape Industry Association (MVIA), needs to include products containing nicotine.

Back in January this year the government imposed a 10% tax on vape gear including e-liquids.

Any product that contains nicotine should only be sold by licenced pharmacists, however it appears they are sold pretty much everywhere.

This has led to calls to bring in a vape ban or at the very least tough new vaping regulations.

There’s currently around 1million vapers in the country with almost 90% of them ex smokers.

Rizani told TRP new and fair vape regulations would protect vapers from ‘unregulated products’ adding:

The first step in regulations entail differentiating traditional cigarettes and vape products given that they are not the same and this level of understanding among policymakers are crucial.

These two different products, one is less harmful and one is known to be dangerous to health, should not share the same regulatory treatment.

To insist that, will remove an option from millions of Malaysian smokers who are seeking harm-reduced alternatives to cigarettes.

From an economic perspective, there is strong potential for the industry to grow rapidly as there is interest in our products from multiple countries including the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates and the United States.

This will not only contribute to the country’s revenue but also create employment opportunities and develop small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs).

For the record, a staggering 44000 children regularly smoke in the country with a whopping 4528000 adults lighting up resulting in 27200 smokers dying each year.

Let’s hope the government is sensible…one can hope…

Poignant Tweet From India’s Vapers

Thanks to the Indian Government pretty much banning all things vape, this tweet from the Association of Vapers India says it all.

Read more on India’s vape ban:

• The India Vape Ban Is Nothing Short Of An Act Of Democide
• The Association of Vapers India Chats With EcigClick

…and finally…Show Me Your Waterfall…

Nope that’s not a euphemism…

The World Vape show is looking for the best vape tricksters on the planet.

They want to feature the best of the best on stage in Dubai this September.

So if you’re a vape bender [not a euphemism] – deadly with the dragon or awesome with the O’s – they want YOU!

Fill out the World Vape Show Trickster form and let’s see what you’ve got.

Given I tend to hurt my jaw trying to blow rings I’ll give it a miss…

Plus I look stupid in snap back caps 😉

———————————————

More vape news on Wednesday!