SA pubs want e-cigarettes banned in non-smoking areas
BAR owners want e-cigarettes treated legally the same as tobacco cigarettes, and banned in non-smoking areas, because the “murky waters” around their use make it difficult to manage complaints about patrons who puff on the vaporisers.
The Australian Hotels Association SA branch is among groups to make submissions to a state parliamentary committee examining how laws should be updated to cover e-cigarettes.
Instead of burning tobacco, e-cigarettes use battery power to vaporise a refillable cartridge of nicotine solution to create vapour which a user inhales.
Some use flavoured liquids which do not contain nicotine.
E-cigarettes have been sold in Australia for about four years.
South Australian law prevents the sale — but not possession or use — of any product “designed to resemble a tobacco product”, such as a cigarette.
Members of State Parliament are concerned SA legislation does not properly cover vaporisers and have opened an inquiry.
In a submission to the parliamentary committee, AHA (SA) government relations and policy manager Wendy Bevan calls for e-cigarettes to be “treated exactly the same way as current tobacco products”, including banning their use in non-smoking areas.
“The current murky waters around e-cigarettes result in conflict between management (of a venue) and a patron who does not want to leave (a non-smoking area) because the e-cigarette is not a ‘real cigarette’ and other patrons who object to the e-cigarette on amenity grounds,” Ms Bevan writes.
The Pharmacy Guild of Australia also wants the use of vaporisers banned in smoke-free areas.
The Guild does not want e-cigarettes sold through pharmacies — unless it can be proved that they help people quit smoking tobacco — and calls for a ban on advertising or promoting them.
Queensland politicians have banned e-cigarettes in non-smoking areas. They cannot be sold to children, advertised or displayed in stores in that state.
Some opponents raise concerns that vaporisers, particularly those using flavoured liquids, could “re-glamorise” smoking and encourage young people to take up the habit.
However, international tobacco giant Philip Morris’s submission cites UK research which found “no evidence” that e-cigarettes are a “gateway” to smoking for young people.
The company argues for legislation which regulates e-cigarettes as tobacco-related products, not medicines, prevents their sale or marketing to minors and prohibits marketing claims that vaporisers offer a “reduced risk” compared to tobacco or are a proven quit-smoking aid unless shown by scientific data.
Peregrine Corporation, which owns 31 Smokemart stores in South Australia, argues there is “strong anecdotal evidence that customers are using e-cigarettes as an alternative” to smoking tobacco.
“Should these products not be readily available, rather than reducing the incidence of smoking, it simply encourages the illicit sale of e-cigarettes,” its submission states.
“This illegal trade appears widespread in retail outlets and on the internet.”
The company calls for product standards which cover the type and quality of ingredients in the vapour liquid, childproof packaging and standardised labelling, including possible health or warning messages.
Originally published as Pubs want e-cigarettes stubbed out
Source: The Australian / The Advertiser, Lauren Novak, 11th October 2015
Originally published as: SA pubs want e-cigarettes banned in non-smoking areas
