Newsletter

    ATHRA Supporter newsletter August 2020

    Reducing the harm from smoking

    ATHRA supporter newsletter

    August 2020

    Vaping nicotine in Australia is under serious threat from Minister Hunt’s plan for a de facto ban on nicotine e-liquid from 1 January 2021. Importing nicotine after this date will attract a penalty of $220,000!

    New Zealand recently passed sensible legislation to make nicotine widely available as a consumer product. We could achieve this in Australia if the 520,000 Aussie vapers speak up. But we need to act now before it is too late.

    What you can do

    1. The most effective thing you can do is visit your local federal MP and the senators for your state and educate them. You need to simply tell your story about how vaping has helped you and that you want the ban reversed. You can find your federal MP by searching “federal MP [suburb or town]” in Google. Ring and ask for an appointment. Even better is to take one or more other vapers with you to give you confidence and to make a bigger impact.

    2. If you are unable to visit, pleasewrite a letter to your federal MP. Simply tell your story: how long you smoked, how smoking affected your health, how other treatments did not work for you, the benefits of vaping for your health and finances. Explain how important vaping is for you and ask them to vote to legalise vaping.

    3. Sign the Legalise Vaping petition which will be tabled in Parliament soon. Ask your friends and family to sign also.

    4. Talk to your GP about vaping. GPs do not know much about vaping, but GP training is now available here. Tell them the College of GPs supports vaping for smokers who can’t quit with other methods. GP guidelines on smoking and vaping are available.

    5. Write to your local newspaper like Nathan Artis did and ring the radio station whenever vaping is discussed.

    6. Tell anyone who will listen about your experience. The public is terribly misinformed about vaping and we need their support.

    7. Make a donation to ATHRA so we can lobby for you. All donations are tax-deductible.

    What’s new?

    The recent National Drug Strategy Household Survey found that Australian vaping rates more than doubled in the last 3 years and vaping is helping smokers quit. Vaping is now the most popular quitting method in Australia and is rare in non-smokers.

    Contrary to concerns raised in the media, the survey also found that teen vaping is rare in Australia, especially among non-smoking youth.

    ATHRA has prepared a list of GPs who provide prescriptions for vaping if it is appropriate for you. Read about the delightful Dr Carolyn and how she is helping vapers.

    Please contact us if you would like any further information.

    Follow us on social media

    Twitter IconFacebook iconEmail icon

    RECENT BLOG POSTS

    The fake news of a harmful youth vaping epidemic in Australia

    RECENT REPORTS in Australian media have raised fears of a youth vaping epidemic that will “addict a new generation of young people to smoking”. The latest national survey provides some hard evidence about youth vaping in Australia and the results are reassuring. The National Drug...

    Read More

    New Zealand passes legislation to make vaping widely available

    THE NEW ZEALAND PARLIAMENT passed groundbreaking legislation yesterday to regulate vaping products, leaving Australia increasingly out of touch with other western countries. According to Associate Health Minister, Jenny Salesa, “The Bill strikes a balance between helping smokers quit by offering regulated vaping as an alternative,...

    Read More

    Over 500,000 vapers in Australia now, according to Government study

    VAPING is now a mainstream quitting strategy for Australian smokers, with the number of vapers more than doubling in the last 3 years. In 2019, 2.5% of the population (aged 14+) or *520,000 people were ‘current’ vapers (vaped at least once in the last year)....

    Read More

    National survey suggests vaping is reducing smoking in Australia

    FIGURES  from the 2019 National Drug Household Strategy Survey released today suggest that vaping is playing a major role in reducing smoking rates in Australia. The survey by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare is conducted every 3 years. In 2019, 22,274 Australians aged...

    Read More

    Australia's ban on nicotine importation lifted...for now

    PUBLIC HEALTH is the big winner from Health Minister Greg Hunt’s decision to delay the ban on importing nicotine. However, the fight to legalise vaping is far from over. The Minister announced on 19 June that it would be illegal to import nicotine for vaping...

    Read More

    Government announces major crackdown to effectively ban nicotine imports

    THE PLAN announced today by the Health Department to block the importation of nicotine for vaping is effectively a death sentence for hundreds of thousands of Australian vapers and smokers. Many vapers will go back to smoking and smokers will be denied access to a...

    Read More

     

Go to Top