The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists endorse e-cigarettes

[VictorC]

"“E-cigarettes and vaporisers provide a safer way to deliver nicotine to those who are unable to stop smoking, thereby minimising the harms associated with smoking tobacco and reducing some of the health disparities experienced by people with mental illness.”

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...s/news-story/ec1c90c0ca6a21fa157d797418ca28ff

 

[zoiDman]

Here is some Detailed information on the RANZCP recommendations.

RANZCP submission on the use of e-cigarettes and personal vaporizers in Australia | RANZCP

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"Regulation

The RANZCP supports a legislative framework where e-cigarettes and vaporisers are controlled proportionate to their risks while still allowing for individuals to have appropriate access to these products at a reasonable cost. The RANZCP would also suggest a review of any legislation after five or ten years to ensure that regulations reflect up-to-date research on the harms and benefits of these products.

In the RANZCP’s view, e-cigarettes and vaporisers should not be regulated as a medicine as this would present significant regulatory barriers for their production and distribution. Nor should they be regulated as tobacco products which might similarly restrict their availability. This would also send a message that the risks of e-cigarettes and vaporisers are equivalent to those associated with tobacco products. E-cigarettes and vaporisers are not medicines and they do not contain tobacco; they should therefore be regulated proportionate to their own particular risks and benefits."


"Flavouring

There should be sensible regulations around the use of flavouring compounds in e-cigarettes and vaporisers, although the appropriate extent of these regulations is cause for some debate. The use of flavours may trivialise the range of harms associated with vaping and make these products more appealing to younger users. Some flavouring compounds have even been identified as carrying significant risks – for instance, diacetyl has been found to be a common flavouring compound used in e-cigarettes (Farsalinos et al., 2015) despite being associated with respiratory impairment and lung disease when inhaled (CDC, 2016). The use of such compounds should clearly be prohibited. However, the RANZCP suggests that manufacturers should be permitted to use low-risk flavouring compounds as non-tobacco flavours are useful in distinguishing e-cigarettes and vaporisers from tobacco products, thereby helping to prevent relapse among people who have switched to non-tobacco products."

https://www.ranzcp.org/Files/Resour...anding-Committee_Vaporised-Nicotine-Bill.aspx

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https://www.ranzcp.org/Files/Resources/Submissions/tobacco_policy-pdf.aspx