Australia’s nicotine ban kicks in today and there will be even more blood on the hands of an out of control tyrannical government.
I don’t use the word tyrannical lightly either…
Have you seen the brutal beat downs delivered by military clad police officers on fellow Australians for daring to venture outside without a mask?
A once great country, where people from all corners of the world flocked for the freedoms, opportunities, stunning nature and liberal ideals, has now turned into a dictatorship with a government that has already drawn blood now adding democide to its wicked agenda.
Yeah…you got it…I’m angry…and then some.
This slow mission creep to the current nicotine ban has been dragging on for almost 5 years.
In the EcigClick vape news back in 2017 I touched on the craziness of Australia’s vaping laws.
Back then it was legal to import e-liquids containing nicotine – but illegal to sell them – like I said crazy.
The hard hitting documentary A Billion Lives released in the same year featured an emotional Aussie vape entrepreneur named Vince.
He recalled the night police raided and ransacked his home taking away all of the vape stock they could find.
On film and blinking away tears he said:
Three black SUV’s with a search and seizure warrant…they bagged and tagged everything they could find related to e-cigarettes…it was like they thought I was some kind of Colombian drug cartel or something…someone’s got an agenda as it isn’t about us…don’t let the bastards win…
Someone does indeed have an agenda…and he’s probably a bastard and his name is rhyming slang.
Enter stage left and the bad guy of the piece, Health Minister Greg Hunt…as I said, rhyming slang.
It was this buffoon – and a dangerous one too – that when asked if vaping with nicotine would ever become legal in Australia told the media:
It’s not going to be happening on my watch as far as I’m concerned.
He of course cited the tired old line ‘we gotta protect the children‘ something parroted by ignorant politicians across the world.
Australia’s Vape Ban – Almost Averted
Since 2017 there’s been a couple of minor victories for vapers down under, and continued clownish behavior from the Australian Government.
Do you remember in 2017 when the hammer was about to go down on the big inquiry into vaping and literally at the very last second – they called for another inquiry!
Farcical doesn’t begin to cover it.
And then there was another last hour reprieve for the proposed nicotine ban in June 2020 following a revolt by a number of MPs.
Then the blueprint for Australia’s nicotine ban was pretty much sealed as a number of the country’s leading doctors and health organizations suggested vaping on nicotine might be OK – but prescription only…and that’s where we are today.
And it’s NOT a g’day for Aussie vapers to say the least.
Do Doctors Have the Time To Prescribe Nicotine?
Vaping on e-liquids containing nicotine is now illegal unless via doctors prescription…and we’ve all ready learned not many doctors down under are keen to offer them.
The excellent Legalise Vaping Australia wrote recently that only 71 GPs had signed up to offer vapers the lifeline they need.
That number won’t even scratch the surface when the demand grows…and it will.
And here’s the kicker…there’s a strong possibility that vapers ‘caught‘ vaping without a prescription could face fines of up to $222,000.
Let that sink in…that’s around £100,000 for vaping on juice that you and I are currently enjoying.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners [RACGP] is urging GPs to ‘be prepared‘ and in a media release, RACGP President Dr Karen Price said:
GPs have a lot on their plate right now but it’s important that they are aware of what these changes to vaping laws mean for them and their patients.
Prescriptions for nicotine vaping products are not a first-line treatment for smoking cessation and should only be tried when other measures, such as nicotine replacement therapy with behavioural support, have failed.
It will be the job of GPs in communities across Australia to apply discretion and judgment when considering the patient’s individual circumstances.
Those who do have a prescription will be able to obtain nicotine vaping products by filling the prescription via a pharmacy.
It’s going to be chaos and an unmitigated disaster…and hey push the Big Pharma crap first and we know patches, gums and sprays don’t work…
And, given the current despotic tactics from the police, how long before we see vapers battered on the streets, or Stasi squads of anti-vaping snoopers snitching on their neighbours for daring to vape in their own homes?
Like I said, tyrannical sums it up.
Dangerous Black Market
The irony is as of today no one actually knows how many vapers currently have a doctors prescription!
Given the country has a best estimate of around 500,000 vapers, probably more, do you really think doctors have the time to deal with the sudden influx?
And don’t forget, Australia is pretty much a locked down police state right now – how the hell are people going to be able to get to see a GP let alone get past the ranks of baton hungry storm troopers?
They’ll run the risk of buying on the dangerous black market – maybe hope the sourced overseas vape juice and nic shots they bought will make it through customs – or more likely throw carton after carton of lit cigarettes into their weekly big shop.
Add the 2.5 million smokers into the mix and you’ve now got 3 million Australian’s facing disease and death – as I said it’s democide.
Australia records over 20,000 lit tobacco related deaths each year, never mind the serious illnesses, vaping on nicotine e-liquids I hazard a guess kills none.
Yet STILL they ban it!
Australia’s Nicotine Ban – the Advocates Respond
Despite heroic and tireless campaigning by Australia’s vape advocates, the day has arrived and vaping will NEVER be the same again down under.
Back in 2018 I interviewed Brian Marlow, the campaign director of Legalise Vaping Australia.
Back then he was certain the Australian Government would back down from the ban and urged Aussie vapers to put pressure on their MPs.
They did just that, however the government IGNORED a petition with over 7,000 signatures calling for the ban to be stopped.
“The government is full of crap”… was the quote from Brian at the time…wise words mate.
Yesterday Brian referred to a study from the University of Queensland that showed categorically vaping WILL and DOES help smokers quit adding:
Bizarrely, this is a health policy that is bad for people’s health.
Not only is it a recipe for chaos at GP surgeries right in the middle of a pandemic, but it risks for pushing vapers back on to cigarettes.
There has been a lot of talk over the last couple of years about following the science on health advice, yet the federal government seems determined to do the exact opposite on this issue.
The scientific, peer-reviewed evidence is clear and continues to mount.
Vaping helps smokers quit.
Dr Colin Mendelsohn is Founding Chairman and a Director of the Australian Tobacco Harm Reduction Association, and a long time pro-vape advocate.
The article he published on his blog yesterday, titled: Freedom of choice has been cancelled and will cost lives from tomorrow – is a must read.
He lays it on the line:
Many will not have the means or be willing to jump through the numerous hoops to comply with the new regulations.
Many resent having to go to a doctor for a prescription when they do not see themselves as sick.
It will be far easier just to go to the local servo and buy a packet of smokes.
Vaping is the most popular aid for quitting and reducing smoking in Australia, according to the 2019 National Drug Strategy Household Survey.
It is also the most effective stop-smoking aid on the market and is more successful than nicotine replacement products.
Indeed it is and yet they still ban it…as Vince said, someone has an agenda…
That Bloke Bloomberg Again?
Which brings me to – yeah you’ve guessed it – little Mike Moneybags Bloomberg – the eminence grise of the anti-vaping frat club…or is that prat club…
Pretty sure his vape none vape kit nicotine loaded Hale device will hit the chemist shelves down under without so much as a whimper from Hunt and co…
Not only is he the global puppet master of vape bans and anti-vaping campaigns, he also likes to throw his money around via Bloomberg Philanthropies.
One such beneficiary is the Data For Health Initiative at the University Of Melbourne.
And this link suggests Bloomberg is allegedly bullying the Australian Government – among others – into eradicating vaping off the planet.
That’s not me saying it, it comes from superb work by the team at the Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Advocates [CAPHRA].
A press release covering Australia’s nicotine ban states:
….startling research confirms Australia has sadly fallen into the hands of greed. It’s now clear American billionaires like Michael Bloomberg dictate not only the WHO’s health guidance, but Australia’s health policies.
In fact, over the past decade anti-tobacco billionaire foundations have funneled millions into Asia Pacific NGOs to lobby governments to ban vaping and discredit vaping advocates.
Here’s the link to the claim: Follow the Vape Ban Money Trail.
Nothing surprises me…lift up any anti-vaping rock and the usual suspects scuttle away from the light.
CAPHRA’s executive coordinator, Nancy Loucas, wrote:
You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see that blocking tobacco’s main rival will only help lift tobacco excise revenue for the Australian government.
Australia is now well down the world rankings when it comes to adopting effective Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) policies.
It’s miles behind progressive countries like New Zealand, the United Kingdom, France, the Philippines, and even the United States and Canada.
These counties openly acknowledge vaping’s key role in beating tobacco.
The country is not following international science or THR best practice.
Instead, Australia is kowtowing to the poisoned advice of the World Health Organization (WHO).
By condemning safer alternatives and ignoring mounting evidence, the WHO is doing its best to deny the world’s 1.1 billion smokers a safe escape.
Nancy calls Australia’s nicotine ban Black Friday.
A fitting description given that’s the colour of cancerous smokers lungs filled with killer tar.
A sad day indeed for the health of a nation and of course the down under vaping industry.
As to IF the laws can be changed is anyone’s guess – but you really must sign up to Legalise Vaping Australia and fight back because lives depend on it.
A final word of hope from Dr Mendelsohn:
When these new regulations fail, as they almost certainly will, nicotine liquids should be made consumer products as they are in all other western democracies.
They will then be able to compete fairly with the other consumer product they are designed to replace, deadly tobacco cigarettes.
For the sake of millions of lives let’s hope sense prevails.
So what are your thoughts on Australia’s nicotine ban?
Please let me know in the comments below.
