27 March 2024: 

"we think we should be regulating it, restricting it based on age and restricting it to assessed and checked vapes that don't have toxic levels of concentrated nicotine and all the other secret herbs and spices that some of the manufacturers put in there to increase absorption across the blood-brain barrier and make it more addictive. The thing with chewing gums, patches and things like that is that someone who's seriously addicted to nicotine doesn't get that 'ah', that relief, because they don't get the hit."

"You've seen all these places that are being torched. They're gang wars and turf wars, because the illegal tobacco trade has, like vaping, been taken over by people that do lots of other bad stuff that's highly illegal, like drugs of addiction—the trade in ice, heroin and coke—as well as vaping."

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More here >>

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David Gillespie Is Wrong, Here's Why:

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David Gillespie MP’s speech is filled with misinformation, flawed assumptions, and a fundamental misunderstanding of tobacco harm reduction. Below is a fact-based rebuttal explaining why his arguments are incorrect and misleading.

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1. “Vaping is not just steam or hot water, like a Vicks VapoRub inhalation. It has many damaging chemicals.”

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The Facts: Vaping is Significantly Less Harmful Than Smoking

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✅ Public Health England, the Royal College of Physicians (UK), and Cancer Research UK all confirm that vaping is at least 95% less harmful than smoking​.
✅ While some chemicals are present in e-cigarettes, their levels are dramatically lower than in tobacco smoke​.
✅ Regulated nicotine vaping products contain pharmaceutical-grade ingredients such as nicotine, propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin, and flavorings—all of which are used in other inhalable medical products​.
✅ Cigarettes contain over 7,000 chemicals, including 69 known carcinogens—vapes do not contain these at harmful levels​.

🛑 Dr. Gillespie’s fear-mongering about “toxic chemicals” is misleading because doses matter. Just because a substance is present does not mean it is harmful.

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2. “The nicotine in vapes is much more concentrated than in cigarettes.”

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The Facts: Nicotine Levels in Vapes Are Comparable to Cigarettes

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✅ The nicotine content in a vape can be adjusted by the user, making it possible to reduce intake gradually—unlike cigarettes, where nicotine levels are fixed​.
✅ Nicotine itself is not the primary cause of smoking-related diseases—it's the tar and combustion in cigarettes that cause harm​.
✅ Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products like patches and gum contain similar doses of nicotine and are available over-the-counter​.

🛑 Dr. Gillespie fails to acknowledge that vapes allow smokers to control their nicotine consumption, making it an effective harm reduction tool.

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3. “Vaping causes the same emphysema, hypersecretion, and lung disease as smoking.”

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The Facts: There is No Evidence That Vaping Causes Emphysema or Chronic Lung Disease

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✅ Long-term studies show that vaping does not cause the same lung damage as smoking​.
✅ A comprehensive review by the UK government found no evidence that vaping causes chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in non-smokers​.
✅ Misinterpretation of vaping studies often stems from animal experiments that use unrealistic exposure levels not reflective of real-world vaping​.

🛑 Dr. Gillespie’s claim that vaping causes emphysema is incorrect and unsupported by human clinical research.

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4. “We know about the EVALI reaction in North America.”

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The Facts: EVALI Was Not Caused by Nicotine Vaping

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✅ EVALI (E-cigarette or Vaping-Associated Lung Injury) was caused by illicit THC vapes contaminated with Vitamin E acetate—not by regulated nicotine vapes​.
✅ Vitamin E acetate is banned in legal nicotine vaping products​.
✅ The US CDC confirmed that nearly all EVALI cases were linked to black-market THC vapes, not nicotine vaping​.

🛑 Dr. Gillespie’s reference to EVALI is misleading—there is no link between EVALI and legal nicotine vapes.

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5. “Vaping is a gateway drug that leads young people to smoking.”

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The Facts: The “Gateway Effect” Is a Myth

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✅ There is no credible evidence that vaping causes smoking. Studies showing a correlation do not prove causation​.
✅ Youth smoking rates are still declining in countries where vaping is regulated, including the UK and New Zealand​.
✅ Many young people who experiment with vaping would have tried smoking anyway—vaping may actually be diverting them from cigarettes​.

🛑 Dr. Gillespie’s “gateway” argument is misleading. If vaping caused smoking, we would expect smoking rates to rise—but they continue to decline.

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6. “We should treat vaping exactly the same as we have done with cigarettes.”

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The Facts: Vaping and Smoking Are Completely Different and Should Be Regulated Separately

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✅ Smoking kills 2 in 3 long-term users. Vaping does not​.
✅ Equating vaping with smoking ignores its harm reduction potential for smokers​.
✅ Countries that regulate vaping (rather than ban it) continue to see smoking rates fall​.

🛑 Treating vaping like smoking is bad public policy and ignores global evidence on harm reduction.

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7. “We should tax vapes and use the revenue for education campaigns.”

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The Facts: Over-Taxation Will Push Smokers Back to Cigarettes

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✅ If vaping becomes too expensive, many smokers will return to smoking—this has already happened in some US states with high vape taxes​.
✅ A balanced tax approach should encourage smokers to switch while discouraging youth uptake​.
✅ Funding public education about vaping is important, but fear-based messaging should be avoided​.

🛑 Dr. Gillespie’s taxation proposal ignores the risk of pushing people back to deadly cigarettes.

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A Better Approach to Vaping Regulation

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Dr. David Gillespie MP’s speech is based on misinformation, and an outdated “quit or die” mentality. Instead of doubling down on prohibition, Australia should adopt a regulated, evidence-based vaping policy, similar to the UK and New Zealand,  where:
✅ Smoking rates continue to decline.
✅ Youth vaping is controlled through strict retail regulation.
✅ Black markets are minimized.
✅ Adult smokers have legal access to a harm reduction tool.

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What Should Be Done Instead?

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1. Legalize and regulate vapes with strict age controls (rather than banning them and fueling the black market).

2. Ensure all vape products meet safety standards (so they do not contain harmful chemicals).

3. Educate youth about vaping risks honestly (rather than exaggerating and losing credibility).

4. Keep flavors available for adults to prevent smokers from returning to cigarettes.

5. Treat vaping as a harm reduction tool rather than a public health crisis.

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Prohibition has never worked—it didn’t work with alcohol, it hasn’t worked with drugs, and it won’t work with vapes. Australia should be focusing on sensible regulation, not bans.

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