Key takeaways
- Smoking's dangers are well-known today
- Tobacco was once believed beneficial.
- Smokefree environments and ciggie taxes help quitting.
- Teen vaping has increased, posing health risks.
- Australian government has clamped down on illegal vaping.
It’s a well-known fact that smoking is dangerous to your health. Back in the 14th century, people believed that tobacco chewing and smoking fended off many mental and physical diseases, but as science has discovered, it’s completely the opposite.
In today’s post, we look at the data and facts that the world has discovered about tobacco and smoking and why everyone who’s still on the ciggies should stop for good.
Significant Decreases in Smoking Nationwide
In Australia, smoking is nearing taboo status due to its health hazard to smokers and everyone in general. The government’s initiatives from decades ago have borne good fruit – there has been a significant decrease in the number of smokers in 2019 and onwards than it was in 1991.
Increasing smoking taxes, spreading awareness of the dangers of cigarettes, and access to safe smoking cessation therapies and tools like nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) have urged many smokers to quit and keep motivated smokers away from ciggies in general.
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Smokefree Environments Proven Effective for Quitting
The great public awareness of poor air quality, smoking, and aerosols was further reinforced by the Smoke Free Environment Act 2000 two decades ago.
The new regulations ensured that non-smoking individuals, children, and animals must have spaces with clean air to breathe everywhere by banning indiscriminate cigarette consumption in public spaces and limiting its presence in commercial premises.
Combined with the higher prices of cigarettes due to increasing cigarette taxes, many motivated smokers have also found the smokefree spaces to help with their intent to quit.
And of course, cleaner air also means better breathing for everyone.
Teen Vaping Has Increased
Many teenagers and children have been freely purchasing illegal vapes sold in corner shops and tobacconists with little to no age verification, due to the only focus of these retailers being profit – not the health and safety of Australia’s most vulnerable.
In 2021, about 3% of Australians aged between 18 and 44 years old regularly use illegal vapes from foreign manufacturers. These products contain as much as 357mg of nicotine, which is an extremely dangerous dosage.
While liquid aerosolization lacks the dangers of cigarette smoke, nicotine itself and the low-quality ingredients in these illegal vapes used by young people still puts them in harm’s way if they do not stop using them.
Vaping Has Grown Immensely in Popularity
In general, NVP use or ‘vaping’ is set to almost replace the entirety of Australia’s smoking market – but unfortunately, the illicit market has been taking this one step further, by creating a new generation of nicotine addicts in the country.
From 2007, the number of NVP users from all age brackets have significantly increased to 1.7 million in 2023 – increasing by 30% yearly – from just a few thousand users only a decade ago.
Currently, almost all of these vape users currently use illegal NVPs – non-therapeutic products sold almost anywhere, even in kid’s toy stores and accessible to children as young as 5 years old.
These products distributed by criminal groups looking to profit from Australia’s most vulnerable have colourful packaging and a wide variety of flavours to get the new generation addicted to vaping.
Illegal NVPs have been found to contain dangerous nickel and lead and even foreign saliva – two things that no one ever wants to get into their lungs.
Australian Government Clamps Down on Illegal Vaping
Illegal vaping has become a huge problem in Australia. On 1 March 2024, the government set new regulations banning the sale and purchase of NVPs outside of pharmacies.
The main purpose of these regulations is to get illegal NVPs off the street and remove access from teenagers, children, and everyone else who hadn’t and shouldn’t get involved with nicotine, while giving motivated smokers a responsibly manufactured product designed purely for smoking and nicotine cessation.
As mentioned, you can purchase NVPs from pharmacies – but only if you’re going through a smoking cessation journey with a GP who can prescribe NVPs to you if they deem it necessary.
Pharmacy NVPs are made with stringent medical and GMP standards. These responsible products are made with your health in mind and are tested for inhalation safety to make sure that what you’re inhaling is helping you stop smoking, and eventually nicotine altogether.
Access to Responsible Vaping Through Pharmacies
If you’d like to use NVPs from pharmacies, here are some steps you can take to use a responsible tool to stop smoking altogether.
Go Through First-Line Solutions First
Some motivated smokers can handle cold turkey just fine and see success within a few tries, but oftentimes, smokers have strong withdrawals that can draw them back to lighting a stick.
That’s where nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products come in. These are readily available and stocked at your local pharmacy.
NRT products are the most trusted quitting option available for motivated smokers. They might not imitate cigarettes, but they contain a small dose of nicotine that may be enough to alleviate your withdrawals. These come in the form of patches and gums for easy and convenient nicotine delivery.
While NRTs can be effective, they don’t work for everyone. If these haven’t done the trick for you, you may now be eligible for a nicotine prescription to use nicotine vaping products (NVPs).
Chat to a GP
As mentioned, NRT products have worked for many successful ex-smokers. But, you might have ingrained behaviours and triggers that only something that mimics a cigarette can successfully address, such as the hand-to-mouth motion, and needing something to use while having a drink with friends.
That is where NVPs become very handy in helping you fight the urge to consume tobacco.
You need a nicotine prescription before you can purchase NVPs, so you’ll need to consult with a GP to help you on your smoking cessation journey.
And, if your GP deems it necessary, they can write you a nicotine prescription for NVPs.
You can chat to your usual GP more about this.
Visit Your Local Pharmacy
Once you have your nicotine prescription, you can pop down to your local pharmacy. Over 2,200 pharmacies across Australia hold these products in-store, but any pharmacy can order these in for you if they don’t currently stock them.
Both your pharmacist and GP can advise you on how best to use the product, such as the initial setup, and the number of puffs to take when you feel withdrawals.
Summary
Smoking is a danger to anyone who still smokes and also those around them. Fortunately, smoking in Australia is significantly waning, and with responsible smoking cessation products and good government oversight, this trend will continue to keep everyone safe and breathing fresh air.
If you need further help stopping smoking forever, we can help.
Smokefree Clinic gives you access to many medically reviewed and trustworthy resources that can inform and aid you in your path to wellness, so have a look around!
If you’re ready to get started, Smokefree can connect you to friendly Australian healthcare professionals who excel in helping patients quit smoking for good, including via the use of pharmacy NVPs.