“E-cigarettes are relatively new but we know that there is a ##possible link to serious lung disease and growing evidence that e-cigarettes can lead young people to start smoking regular cigarettes,” she said.
The non-vaping areas would include Bourke Street Mall, the Causeway, Howey Place, Block Place, Equitable Place, Goldsbrough Lane, QV Melbourne, the Tan and Princes Park running tracks, Collins Way and Fulham Place.
Councillor Beverley Pinder inaccurately stated that while e-cigarettes are marketed as smoking cessation tools, there is no evidence to support these claims. “But health experts agree that there simply isn’t the evidence to support these claims,” she said. “E-cigarette liquids contain a range of chemical ingredients and flavours that haven’t been proven safe to inhale, and aren’t regulated, so you really don’t know what you’re inhaling.”
E-cigs deemed the most effective smoking cessation aids to date
Meanwhile, a recent study from neighbouring New Zealand by researchers from the University of Auckland, found that of all NRTs, nicotine-containing vaping products are the most effective at helping smokers quit cigarettes successfully.
Associate Professor Dr. Natalie Walker and Professor Chris Bullen from the University of Auckland, collected results from 1124 participants, who took part in the study.
The participants were considered successful if they managed to remain “smoke free” for six months following the trial. In line with previous studies, the researchers found that people who used patches in conjunction with a nicotine containing e-cigarette, were more likely to remain smoke free for the trial period, than those who used patches combined with a nicotine-free e-cigarette.
To this effect Dr. Walker concluded that e-cigarettes are ideal harm-reduction tools for smokers. “Vaping is less harmful than smoking. In NZ, 5000 people die each from smoking-related diseases. The best of our knowledge no one in NZ has died from vaping.”
Read Further: WA Today
