Timeline:

27 March 2024: 

"I rise to speak on the Therapeutic Goods and Other Legislation Amendment (Vaping Reforms) Bill 2024, which amends the Therapeutic Goods Act. This bill bans the importation, domestic manufacture, supply, commercial possession and advertisement of disposable single-use and non-therapeutic vapes."

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Helen Haines Is Wrong, Here's Why:

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Helen Haines MP’s speech is filled with misconceptions, selective use of data, and a failure to acknowledge the overwhelming evidence supporting vaping as a harm reduction tool. Below is a fact-based rebuttal, explaining why her arguments are incorrect.

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1. “I welcome these long-overdue reforms to curb the use of vapes in Australia.”

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The Facts: Banning Vapes Will Increase Smoking and Strengthen the Black Market

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• Australia’s previous vaping restrictions have already failed, leading to one of the world’s largest black markets for vapes​.

• Countries like the UK and New Zealand, which regulate vaping as a smoking cessation tool, have seen continued declines in smoking rates and better control over youth access​.

• A prohibitionist approach will not “curb” vaping but will push it into the hands of criminal networks, making it easier for youth to access unsafe products​.

• Instead of banning vaping, Australia should regulate it properly to ensure product safety and limit youth access​.

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2. “Youth vaping has increased significantly in recent years.”

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The Facts: Youth Access Is Due to the Black Market, Not Legal Retail Sales

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• Youth vaping is a concern, but the best way to address it is through regulation, not prohibition​.

• In countries where vaping is legally regulated (such as the UK), youth smoking rates continue to decline, and youth vaping is more controlled​.

• Most youth who experiment with vapes do not become regular users. Surveys often fail to distinguish between one-time experimentation and daily use, leading to exaggerated statistics​.

• Banning vapes will not prevent youth from accessing them—it will only ensure that they buy them from illegal sources with no quality control​.

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3. “Most vapes come in novelty fruit and confectionery flavors, are sold alongside lollies, and are designed to appeal to young people.”

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The Facts: Flavored Vapes Are Essential for Helping Adult Smokers Quit

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• Adult vapers overwhelmingly prefer fruit and dessert flavors because they help dissociate vaping from smoking​.

• Countries that have banned flavored vapes have seen former smokers return to cigarettes, increasing smoking rates​.

• The UK, Canada, and New Zealand allow flavored vapes while enforcing strict age restrictions, successfully reducing smoking without increasing youth uptake​.

• A ban on flavors will not stop youth vaping but will harm adult smokers who need them to quit cigarettes​.

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4. “The increase in vaping has translated to three times as many teenagers taking up smoking.”

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The Facts: The “Gateway Effect” Is a Myth

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• There is no credible evidence proving that vaping causes smoking—the claim that vapers are more likely to smoke is based on correlation, not causation​.

• Most young people who try vapes would have experimented with cigarettes anyway, meaning vaping is not the cause of smoking uptake​.

• If vaping were truly leading to smoking, we should see youth smoking rates rising—but in countries like the UK, youth smoking continues to decline alongside vaping’s rise​.

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5. “Curtin University tested 52 flavored e-liquids and found a toxic cocktail of ingredients.”

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The Facts: Vape Liquids Contain Fewer Toxins Than Cigarettes

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• While some low-quality vapes contain harmful chemicals, regulated nicotine vapes have been found to contain far fewer toxic substances than cigarettes​.

• The Royal College of Physicians and Public Health England confirm that vaping is at least 95% less harmful than smoking​.

• Regulating the legal vape market would allow Australia to set quality standards to eliminate harmful chemicals, rather than forcing consumers to rely on unregulated black-market products​.

• Banning vapes while keeping cigarettes legal is counterproductive—cigarettes contain over 7,000 chemicals, including dozens of known carcinogens​.

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6. “Vaping has been linked to lung disease, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.”

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The Facts: No Credible Evidence Shows That Vaping Causes These Diseases

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• There is no reliable evidence that nicotine vaping causes lung cancer, heart disease, or other smoking-related illnesses​.

• Most vaping-related lung disease cases (such as EVALI) were linked to illegal THC vapes containing vitamin E acetate, not nicotine vapes​.

• Studies claiming vaping causes health issues are often based on animal experiments or unrealistic exposure levels that do not reflect real-world use​.

• Long-term studies on vaping are ongoing, but all available evidence suggests it is far less harmful than smoking​.

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7. “Therapeutic vapes will still be available through prescriptions.”

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The Facts: Australia’s Prescription Model Has Already Failed

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• The prescription-only model has led to one of the largest black markets for vapes in the world, making it easier for youth to access illegal products​.

• Most doctors are not prescribing vapes, and many smokers find it easier to buy from the black market than navigate the prescription process​.

• Countries with over-the-counter vape sales (such as the UK and New Zealand) have seen higher smoking cessation success rates than Australia​.

• Forcing smokers to get a prescription for vapes while allowing cigarettes to be sold freely is completely illogical from a public health perspective​.

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8. “Big Tobacco is behind the vaping industry.”

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The Facts: Banning Vapes Will Benefit Big Tobacco

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• If the government bans vapes, it will push people back to smoking, which is exactly what Big Tobacco wants​.

• Tobacco companies have been losing money in countries where vaping is allowed, as cigarette sales continue to decline​.

• Australia’s harsh vaping regulations have actually protected cigarette sales, keeping Big Tobacco profitable​.

• A well-regulated vape market would reduce smoking rates further while ensuring Big Tobacco does not dominate the industry​.

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9. “We need strong enforcement to stop vapes from being sold illegally.”

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The Facts: Prohibition Has Never Worked

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• Prohibition has never worked in history—it didn’t work with alcohol, it hasn’t worked with drugs, and it won’t work with vapes​.

• Banning vapes will create a thriving black market, where unsafe, high-nicotine products will be sold with no quality control​.

• The only way to regulate vaping effectively is to allow legal sales while enforcing strict safety and age restrictions​.

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A More Effective Approach

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Helen Haines MP’s speech is based on fear, misinformation, and a failure to understand harm reduction science. Instead of doubling down on prohibitionist policies that have already failed, Australia should adopt a regulated, evidence-based vaping policy, similar to the UK and New Zealand where:

✅ Smoking rates continue to fall.
✅ Youth vaping is controlled through proper retail regulation.
✅ Black markets are minimized.
✅ Adult smokers have legal access to a harm reduction tool.

By banning legal vapes, the Australian government is driving people back to smoking, strengthening criminal networks, and failing to protect youth. A legal, regulated market is the real solution.

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