LDP candidate for Deakin proposes healthier alternative for smoking and new avenue to quitting
The Liberal democrat candidate for Deakin Benjamin Walsh and the youngest candidate in the 2010 election has announced he will oppose the decision made by the TGA and the Federal health minister Nicola Roxon to refuse approval to list electronic cigarettes as therapeutic goods. Electronics cigarettes which usually have between 2-4 ingredients and rely on clever electronic vaporization techniques to deliver the nicotine hit without thousands of detrimental chemicals usually found in cigarettes. The TGA and health department allege that there is insufficient evidence to prove they are a healthier alternative to normal tobacco cigarettes, Mr Walsh had this to say “I think that it’s obvious to anyone that the government’s desire to withhold availability of certain products which could potentially substantially lower mortality rates of smoking related health issues is spurred by their reliance upon tobacco tax for revenue. What other reason could one offer as to why something which is logically many times less dangerous to health is not approved by the TGA for sale in Australia?” The Liberal Democrats have no specific policy legislating for or against consumption of tobacco products; they do however support the individual’s right to choose to smoke or to choose the alternative and not. Mr. Walsh shared a personal story about this product” I was a smoker and decided that that kind of behaviour was impacting my physical wellbeing adversely as could be expected, when I acquired a relatively cheap e-cigarette it made quitting substantially more viable, even making the switch from normal cigarettes was a stark contrast in terms of lung capacity and general wellbeing, there is no doubt in my mind that these are substantially less debilitating than conventional tobacco cigarettes. When I Discovered their sale was banned in Australia I was personally outraged!” Federal Health minister Nicola Roxon had this to say about the new technology “Another insidious, manipulative attempt to hook people on smoking.” In reply Mr Walsh raised this argument “I think if Nicola Roxon really thought smoking was that insidious she would make moves to legislate against it, not make legislation against healthier forms of it”. Mr Walsh agreed that little research had been done into the long-term effects of the new method of nicotine delivery and further stated that industry should be encouraged to commission independent research into the product to prove its superiority over conventional cigarettes instead of making it impossible to provide a healthier alternative. “ I think whichever way you try to conceal it it’s just blatantly obvious that the government again hasn’t considered properly the benefits of something like this, it would save millions of taxpayer dollars through minimising smoking related illness and subsequently reducing strain on Medicare thus taxes could be cut” Walsh said in summation.
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