Can I Buy Australian Electronic Cigarettes with Nicotine

The best place to find a full range of electronic cigarettes in Australia that actually have nicotine in them is online. Despite the fact that as quoted in the BBC

“E-cigs could be the ‘greatest health advance’ since vaccines’ in terms of saving lives on the planet, if all smokers were to switch”

from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-26036064
But here is one reason why that can’t be bought in Australia: According to http://www.theadvocate.com.au/story/2070320/authorities-warn-on-dangers-of-e-cigarettes/?cs=87

‘E-CIGARETTES might seem like a healthy way to quit smoking but they can be dangerous, and even fatal’.

National and Tasmanian health authorities are concerned about the use of e-cigarettes in Australia, due to the lack of evidence on their safety and efficacy.

Director of Public Health, Dr Roscoe Taylor, said (1) recent tests of products available in Tasmania had revealed some samples of the liquid, also known as e-juice and e-liquid, had enough nicotine to cause serious illness, or even death if swallowed.

“Parents using e-cigarettes should be very careful as small children may find the liquids enticing as some have fruit- flavoured or sweet additives,” Dr Taylor said.

“Children in other parts of Australia have come to harm ingesting the liquid and at least one death has already been reported overseas.”

Cancer Council Tasmania director of cancer control Dr Kathyrn Terry, said it was illegal to sell e-cigarettes with nicotine in Australia.

E-cigarettes and their cartridges can be sold in Tasmania provided the cartridges do not contain nicotine,” Dr Terry said.

“If it contains nicotine, it is a breach of the Tasmanian Poisons Act 1971 and penalties apply.”

Nicotine is classed as a schedule 7 poison because of its capacity to cause harm to human health.

Where nicotine for use in an e-cigarette is for therapeutic purposes it is a prescription only medicine.

A spokeswoman for the Federal Department of Health said e-cigarettes had not been evaluated by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) as safe or effective.

“The manufacturers of e-cigarettes have not yet provided evidence that their products are a safe and efficacious form of smoking cession therapy,” she said.

“Nor have they provided any evidence to authorities of the overall safety, quality or efficacy of these products.”

/End quote

But, where are the links to citations of the (1) reports for these studies?

It is difficult to believe that although these products are sold elsewhere around the world and have even been recognised as:

”E-cigs ‘greatest health advance’ since vaccines”

according to the news report at the BBC

@ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-26036064

Quote:

4 February 2014 Last updated at 15:58 GMT

Getting all smokers to switch to electronic cigarettes would be the “greatest health advance since vaccinations,” Professor David Nutt claims.

The former government drugs advisor said any side effects of using e-cigarettes would not be as harmful as smoking tobacco.

He told BBC Radio 5 live’s Shelagh Fogarty: “I’m totally in favour of this kind of harm reduction approach.”

“These electronic cigarettes should not be controlled as medicines – they should be controlled more lightly than cigarettes in order to encourage people to switch.”

/End quote