Submission to West Australian Legislative

Council Inquiry into Personal Choice and

Community Safety

October 2018

30th October 2018

Hon Aaron Stonehouse MLC

Member for South Metropolitan Region

Chairman

Select Committee on Personal Choice and Community Safety

Parliament House

4 Harvest Terrace

West Perth WA 6005

Dear Mr Stonehouse

Submission: Personal Choice and Community Safety

Just Vapours Australia (“JVA”) and Just Atomizers Australia (“JAA”) welcomes the

opportunity to make this submission to the West Australian Legislative Council Inquiry

into Personal Choice and Community Safety.

This submission will only address issues regarding Term 1 “Risk-reduction products such

as e-cigarettes, e-liquids and heat-not-burn tobacco products, including any impact

on the wellbeing, enjoyment and finances of users and non-users”.

This submission will focus on the following;

• Benefits to West Australian small businesses

• The Difference Between Smoke and Vapour

• Benefits to West Australian people

• Benefits to the environment

• Global push for changes to vaping

JVA and JAA is an advocate to legalise the supply and sale of electronic cigarettes,

parts and accessories and, to legalise liquid nicotine in Western Australia.

We make this submission to support the other Western Australian businesses and

general public making submissions to change the legalisation and to help liberate the

market in Western Australia. We agree that the assertions and factual data submitted

by other Applicants in support of this application are indisputable.

Thank you in advance for your consideration of our submission.

Justin Crotty

Director

Just Vapours Australia

Who is Just Vapours Australia and Just Atomizers Australia?

Just Vapours Australia (or JVA) started just over 5 years ago as a single man operated

small business in Rockingham. Selling electronic cigarette parts, accessories and e-

liquid at local market stalls and a small retail premises.

Within a few years after starting, the business grew, staff were employed, and excess

stock was kept at a storage facility.

The reason for the expansion and hiring staff was simple, the demand from the public

to have local access and be able to purchase e-cigarette products. Being a physical

shop and not online gave people the opportunity to talk to trained staff about

equipment suitable for them and how to use them correctly.

It wasn’t long until more space was needed and in May 2018, JVA moved into a larger

retail premises including a second business located next door, Just Atomizers Australia

(“JAA”). More staff were employed, and both shops are operating 7 days a week.

More changes will commence when the legislation changes to allow complete

devices to be sold. An even bigger retail shop(s) will be needed, and more

employment opportunities will be on offer.

West Australian Small Business

It makes us wonder…. Why is it legal for West Australians to purchase, own and

operate electronic cigarette devices but illegal for West Australian businesses to retail

and supply them?

1A 2014 decision of the Supreme Court Australia found that e-cigarettes, whether or

not they contain nicotine, resemble a tobacco product and cannot legally be sold in

Western Australia. Regulation of the non-nicotine devices varies from state to state.

Although illegal to supply electronic devices in WA, they are widely available online.

People in this state who want/use non-nicotine e-cigarettes have to source them

elsewhere.

Due to current West Australian Laws, two retail shops were needed. Each retail shop

(JVA and JAA) supply different parts and accessories. Unfortunately, this means an

increase to prices to cover overheads for leasing two retail shops.

In this extremely rapid growing market, West Australian businesses are being

disadvantaged and unable to compete.

The availability to purchase complete devices online in one transaction from

interstate and overseas businesses at a cheaper rate is not only costing us missed

sales, it’s also costing us in reputation. Having to go to more than one shop and make

multiple purchases is an inconvenience to shoppers.

1 Education and Health Standing Committee Clearing the air on e-cigarettes http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/parliament/commit.nsf/(Report+Lookup+by+Com+ID)/C2694C3D9AFD9CC84825814E0008DEF2/$file/20170626+E-cigarettes+report+-+FINAL+(with+final+cover).pdf

West Australian businesses should have the right to sell e-cigarettes to the public since

the public already have the legal right to use them.

Allowing complete devices to be purchased from one retail shop, one transaction

can benefit West Australian businesses by;

• Growth opportunities, being able to open multiple retail shops around Perth

• Creating employment opportunities

• Keeping business local in Western Australia

• Keeping revenue in Western Australia

• The opportunity to compete and supply nationally

Currently there are around five (5) retail vape shops operating in and around Perth.

When you look at other states with different laws and legislation, like Victoria where it

is legal to supply and sell complete devices, there are currently around 60 retail shops,

some businesses have shops in multiple locations (this figure excludes franchises such

as Cignal and TSG). There are even more online only shops supplying devices and e-

liquid nationwide and globally based in Melbourne.

What is the difference between smoke and vapour?

2 Many people think smoke and vapour are the same things. However, apart from

looking similar when exhaled, the difference between smoke and vapour are vast.

Definition of Smoke

Smoke is the result of combustion. When combustion occurs, new chemicals form

through the process of oxidation. Smoke contains thousands of new chemicals

different from those initially burned. Fire is what creates smoke. When you smoke a

cigarette, a fire must be involved to create smoke.

Definition of Vapour

When a substance becomes gaseous, at a temperature that is lower than its point of

combustion, it is considered vapour. The chemicals that are in vapour are the same

as those found in the vaporized substance.

The biggest takeaway is the fact that vaporizing does not create any new

compounds. Vapour maintains the same compounds as the substance that created

it.

Unlike smoke, when a vapour is created, no new chemicals are formed. The

chemicals that are in a liquid are the same chemicals found in vapour formed from

the liquid.

2 What’s the Difference Between Smoke and Vapor? https://veppocig.com/pages/difference-between-smoke-and-vapor/

West Australian People

3 According to the National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2016, quit rates have

flatlined since 2013 despite plain packaging, highest prices in the world and strict

tobacco laws.

The initial costs in vaping vary considerably as prices for devices start around $25 for

a basic device and $300 or more for advance devices. The ongoing costs include, e-

liquids (approx. $30ml), replacement coils ($12 - $30) and batteries ($10).

A pack a day smoker spends approximately $7,500 per year on cigarettes. The annual

costs of vaping is approximately $1,200 per year. Vaping is at least 85% cheaper than

smoking cigarettes.

Not only is vaping a form of harm reduction for the public, its also saving people

money.

4 Aaron Stonehouse Inaugural Speech 2017

In the Chairs inaugural speech to Legislative Council on 24th May 2017, Hon Aaron

Stonehouse confirmed a demonstrable bias when he said: “When our most basic

rights and freedoms are being chipped away at on a daily basis through nanny-state

regulations and big government pateronalim, with smoking indoors banned,

irrespective of what the owner of the property thinks; with bicycle helmets mandatory,

despite the rest of the world agreeing that they are not worth the effort; and with e-

cigarettes, a potentially life-saving alternative pathway to quit smoking, practically

banned, I will be there, making the case for Personal Choice and Personal

Responsibility”.

5The European Union conducted a survey on the attitude of Europeans towards the

tobacco and electronic cigarettes and one of the outcomes was that 61% of

respondents who use e-cigarettes said that they have started using e-cigarettes in

order to reduce their tobacco intake or to quit smoking. 31% stated that the use of e-

cigarettes as they see it as a healthier option to traditional combustible cigarettes.

6Studies from around the world such as san independent scientific review

commissioned by Public Health England, concluded that e-cigarette devices are

around 95% less dangerous than smoking combustible tobacco products. It’s findings

also include that e-cigarettes appeared to be contributing toward falling rates of

smoking among both adults and young people.

3 Report available online: https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/15db8c15-7062-4cde-bfa-3c2079f30af3/21028.pdf.aspx?inline=true 4 Parliament of West Australian Inaugural Speech Hon Aaron Stonehouse MLC, 2017 http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/parliament/Memblist.nsf/(MemberPics)/8D0A3D52071587BF482580F30020A00C/$file/AaronStonehouseInaug2017.pdf 5 Report available online: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/684963/Evidence_review_of_e-cigarettes_and_heated_tobacco_products_2018.pdf 6 https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/298340.php

Nicotine replacement therapies such as patches, gums and mouth sprays, contain

nicotine to help smokers reduce cigarette consumption and quit. These methods are

legal and can be purchased from many local supermarkets, chemists and online

throughout Australia. This is the same nicotine that can be found in e-liquids for vaping

however, illegal and therefore not an option for Australian smokers. Even without

nicotine, people are still wanting to use vaping devices to help reduce cigarette

consumption and/or quit.

It should be the right of any West Australian to be able to choose a method of harm

reduction/reduce risk way to quit smoking and/or smoke with or without nicotine. Why

should West Australian smokers be denied a way to reduce harm?

Benefits to the Environment

Smoking doesn’t just cause harm to people. It causes even more damage to the

environment by fatal housefires, devastating bushfires and killing wildlife.

7 According to Keep Australia Beautiful website, cigarette butts are the most littered

item in Australia. Approximately seven billion of the 24 billion cigarettes sold every year

in Australia are littered.

Six out of 10 Australian smokers littler their butts outdoors and comprise around 30% of

the West Australia litter stream.

The West Australian Department of Fire and Emergency Services attend

approximately 700 landscape fires each year caused by discarded lit cigarette butts.

Destroying millions of hectares of natural bushland, farming communities and

residential homes.

8 A 2005 campaign to highlight the problem of cigarette-related fires by

environmental groups such as Planet Ark, Clean Up Australia and Landcare Australia

found more than 4,500 fires were caused by smoking related materials annually.

Conservation estimate of the cost at smoking related fires was least $80 million a year.

9 FESA conducted a six-year study from 2001 – 2006 into fatal fires in Western Australia.

It found that 27% of fatal fires were caused by cigarettes, when the occupant falls

asleep while smoking in either a bedroom or loungeroom.

Cigarette butts are also mistaken for food by marine life and have been found in the

stomachs of fish, birds, sea turtles and other marine creatures.

Cigarette butts are made from non-biodegradable plastic and can take up to 12-15

years to breakdown.

7 https://www.kabc.wa.gov.au/report-littering/cigarette-butts 8 https://www.smh.com.au/national/cigarette-butts-start-7-percent-of-bushfires-20050221-gdks01.html 9 FESA Fatal Fires in Western Australia: https://www.dfes.wa.gov.au/publications/GeneralReports/FESA_Report-FatalFiresinWA2001-2006.pdf

Global Push for Changes to Vaping

Smoking is a global epidemic and It’s not just West Australian people pushing for

changes to legislation regarding vaping and e-cigarette devices. It’s a push for

change that is happening around the world.

Permitted Limitations Banned Unclear

United Kingdom Turkey Hong Kong Cuba

France Norway Singapore Dominican

Republic

Germany Japan Thailand Columbia

Italy India Vietnam Peru

Greece Australia Taiwan Boivia

Spain Mexico Dubai Morocco

Portugal South Africa Cambodia Tunisia

Croatia Egypt Uganda Tanzania

Netherlands Nigeria Seychelles

Ireland

Russia

Denmark

Sweden

Finland

Iceland

Hungary

Malta

Belgium

Austria

Poland

Switzerland

Ukraine

Romania

Serbia

Belarus

Bulgaria

Souvlakia

China

South Korea

Malaysia

Philippines

Indonesia

Saudi Arabia

Pakistan

Bangladesh

Maldives

Myanmar

Israel

Sir Lanka

New Zealand

Fiji

Papua New

Guinea

Solomon Islands

United States of

America

Canada

Puerto Rico

Costa Rica

Jamaica

Bahamas

Panama

Guatemala

Saint Lucia

Chile

Ecuador

Kenya

Madagascar

Mauritius

Zambia

Ethiopia

Ghana

Botswana

Swaziland

Democratic

Republic of the

Congo

10 Currently 63 countries have legalised vaping with no restrictions. Australia is one of

9 countries that still has limitations on vaping.

The most recent change was New Zealand embracing vaping and legalising it in 2017.

Redvape.com offer information on vaping laws around the world including vaping

status, limitations and penalties for countries where it is banned.

It states for Australia and New Zealand:

Vaping in Australia

Status: Permitted with Big Limitations

What you need to know: Vaping is not banned but using e-liquids that contain

nicotine is. Purchasing e-cigarettes is banned in some states but legal in others.

Overall, it’s a fairly confusing picture but for people who vape juices with nicotine then

Oz is not a great country to visit.

10 https://www.redvape.com/blog/vaping-laws-around-the-world-in-2018

Vaping in New Zealand

Status: Permitted

What you need to know: Unlike their neighbours, New Zealand has a far more

progressive attitude to vaping that is more in line with the UK. Towards the end of 2017,

the New Zealand Health Ministry endorsed ecigs as a harm reduction and smoking

cessation tool. New Zealand has few restrictions on vapers and vape shops are

plentiful if you need to stock up on supplies.

To see the full list please visit www.redvape.com/blog/vaping-laws-around-the-world-

in-2018

Studies have been conducted around the world supporting the harm reduction and

positive health benefits of vaping.

11 No Fire, No Smoke: The Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction 2018 states:

• Every six seconds a person dies from a smoking-related disease

• Half of all those who smoke will die prematurely from a smoking-related disease

• People smoke for the nicotine but die from the tar and gases

• International evidence shows that e-cigarette devices are safer for the

individual smoker, immediate family and bystanders than smoking cigarettes

• Banning e-cigarette devices, or subjecting them to onerous regulation or high

taxation effectively deny access to potentially lifesaving products

• E-cigarette devices could not only affect a global revolution in public health

but also at no costs to governments

12 A study carried out by researchers from several institutions, including University

College London, and the Roswell Park Cancer Institute and Centres for Disease

Control and Prevention (both in the US) funded by Cancer Research UK found

“Vaping has been endorsed by health experts after the first long-term study of its

effects in ex-smokers”.

The study, involving 181 smokers or ex-smokers, has been described as “landmark” as

it is thought to be the first (or at least one of the first) looking at long-term vaping

outcomes in “real world” users. Previous studies of this kind have mainly relied on

laboratory equipment, or animal research, to estimate the long-term effects of e-

cigarettes.

The volunteers completed questionnaires, and provide breath, saliva and urine

samples. The researchers found significantly lower levels of toxic chemicals and

cancer-causing substances (carcinogens) in the samples of those of former smokers

who had been using e-cigarettes compared to current smokers.

The study provides evidence that e-cigarettes can reduce harm to smokers by

reducing exposure to toxic chemicals. The evidence would also seem to support

Public Health England’s 2015 report that e-cigarettes are 95% less harmful than

tobacco.

11 https://gsthr.org/download/report/Global-State-of-Tobacco-Harm-Reduction-2018.pdf 12 https://www.nhs.uk/news/heart-and-lungs/long-term-vaping-far-safer-than-smoking-says-landmark-study/

A letter dated 26th May 2014, 53 international medical and science experts (including

5 from Australia) wrote to the Chief Medical Officer of the World Health Organisation

(WHO), requesting that e-cigarettes be considered as “Reducing the toll of death and

disease from tobacco – tobacco harm reduction and the framework convention on

tobacco control.”

The Australian signatories of this statement to WHO include:

Professor Ron Borland – Nigel Gray Distinguished Fellow in Cancer Prevention at

Cancer Council Victoria. Professorial Fellow School of Population Health and

Department of Information Systems. University of Melbourne, Australia.

Dr Coral Gartner – Senior Research Fellow University of Queensland Centre for Clinical

Research The University of Queensland Australia.

Dr Nigel Gray – Member of Special Advisory Committee on Tobacco Regulation of

the World Health Organization, Honorary Senior Associate Cancer Council Victoria

Australia.

Professor Wayne Hall – Director and Inaugural Chair, Centre for Youth Substance

Abuse Research, University of Queensland Australia.

Professor Richard Mattick – NHMRC Principal Research Fellow Immediate Past Director

NDARC (2001-2009), National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC), Faculty of

Medicine, The University of New South Wales, Australia.

(See Appendix 1 for full terms of references.).

On June the 16th 2014 the letter was updated to include 129 signatures from 31

countries (15 from Australia)

The Australian signatories of this statement to WHO include:

Simon Chapman – AO PhD FASSA HonFFPH (UK) Professor, Sydney School of Public

Health, University of Sydney, Emeritus Editor, Tobacco Control Australia.

Professor Mike Daube AO – Professor of Health Policy and Director, Public Health

Advocacy Institute Curtin University, Perth. President, Australian Council on Smoking

and Health Australia.

Becky Freeman PhD – Research Fellow, School of Public Health University of Sydney.

Todd Harper – Chief Executive Officer, Cancer Council Victoria

Winthrop Professor C. D’Arcy J Holman AM – Chair in Public Health School of

Population Health, University of Western Australia

Professor Stephen Leeder AO – Emeritus Professor of Public Health and Community

Medicine, Menzies Centre for Health Policy and School of Public Health University of

Sydney, Editor-in-Chief, Medical Journal of Australia.

Alan D Lopez PhD – University of Melbourne Laureate Professor, Rowden-White Chair

of Global Health and Burden of Disease Measurement Director, Global Burden of

Disease Group, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of

Melbourne, Former Chief epidemiologist, WHO’s Tobacco or Health Program (1992-

1996), Former Head, WHO Program on Substance Abuse (1996-1998).

Rob Moodie AM MBBS MPH FAFPHM FRACGP DTMH – Professor of Public Health,

University of Melbourne.

Michael Moore – CEO Public Health Association of Australia, Vice President/President

Elect World Federation of Public Health Associations Australia.

Professor Ian Olver AM MBBS MD PhD FRACP FAChPM AFRACMA – Medical Oncologist,

Chief Executive Officer, Cancer Council Australia.

Associate Prof Freddy Sitas DPhil – Director, Cancer Research Division, Cancer Council

NSW.

Bernard W Stewart PhD FRACI DipLaw – Professor, School of Women’s and Children’s

Health, UNSW and Head, Cancer Control Program, South East Sydney Public Health

Unit.

Maurice G Swanson – Chief Executive, National Heart Foundation of Australia, WA

Division Deputy Chair, Cancer Council Australia and National Heart Foundation of

Australia Tobacco Issues Committee Australia.

Associate Professor Samantha Thomas – Principal Research Fellow Public Health,

School of Health and Society. Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Wollongong

Australia.

Professor Melanie Wakefield PhD FASSA – Director and NHMRC Principal Research

Fellow Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer, Cancer Council Victoria

Melbourne Australia.

(See Appendix 2 for full terms of references.).

Some key findings from are report commissioned by 13Public Health England’s

“Evidence review of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products 2018”, include but

aren’t limited too:

The effect of e-cigarette use on smoking cessation and reduction

- In the first half of 2017, quit success rates in England were at their highest rates

so far observed and for the first time, parity across different socioeconomic

groups was observed. It is plausible that e-cigarettes have contributed to this.

- Recent estimates of additional quitters resulting annually from the availability

of e-cigarettes, using the same dataset but two different methods, resulted in

similar figures within the range of 16,000-22,000. Varying the assumptions, and

updating these estimates for 2016, resulted in an upper bound estimate of

around 57,000 additional quitters annually resulting from e-cigarettes (lower

bound around 22,000). While caution is needed with these figures, the

evidence suggests that e-cigarettes have contributed tens of thousands of

additional quitters in England.

Health risks of e-cigarettes

- One assessment of the published data on emissions from cigarettes and e-

cigarettes calculated the lifetime cancer risks. It concluded that the cancer

potencies of e-cigarettes were largely under 0.5% of the risk of smoking.

- Comparative risks of cardiovascular disease and lung disease have not been

quantified but are likely to be also substantially below the risk of smoking.

Among e-cigarette users, two studies of biomarker data for acrolein, a potent

respiratory irritant, found levels consistent with non-smoking levels.

With 63 countries already embracing the change and evolution of smoking, it should

be evidence in itself and West Australians, as well as Australians to have the option.

We agree that there should be regulations similar to cigarettes and devices to be

regulated for consumer protection as well as our own.

Lets become the 64th country to make the change.

13 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/684963/Evidence_review_of_e-cigarettes_and_heated_tobacco_products_2018.pdf

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