Post by N on May 4, 2009 1:23:51 GMT -5
ELECTRONIC cigarettes, which use nicotine-flavoured vapour, are being sold online despite being outlawed in Australia.
The devices, which look and taste similar to the real thing, are being sold on eBay for hundreds of dollars.
An eBay Australia spokesman said the website had a policy that prohibited the sale of tobacco products. He added that the relatively new devices may be included in this policy after an investigation.
E-cigarettes have attracted more attention since being demonstrated at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas last week.
They use battery-generated heat to create a flavoured vapour that users puff just like real smoke.
The devices – commonly from Chinese manufacturers such as Golden Dragon - even have tips that glow when the user inhales, simulating the ember of a real cigarette.
Yet this may not necessarily make e-cigarettes safer. While some devices can use flavoured capsules, they are mostly sold with nicotine.
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Jamie S of Australia
"This looks like another insidious, manipulative attempt to hook people on smoking," Health Minister Nicola Roxon told news.com.au.
"I'd be very concerned about any attempts to promote smoking, especially to young people."
According to a spokesperson for the Federal Department of Health and Ageing, every form of nicotine except for replacement therapies and cigarettes are classified as a form of poison.
Last October, the National Drugs and Poisons Schedule Committee (NDPSC) decided that this classification should remain for e-cigarettes, which effectively makes it illegal to sell nicotine e-cigarettes in all states and territories.
"The e-cigarette has not been evaluated for safety or efficacy," said a spokesperson for the Federal Department of Health and Ageing.
"Nicotine has well recognised physiological and pathological effects and, as with conventional cigarettes, the e-cigarette would be expected to lead to, and sustain, nicotine addiction."
eBay Australia's spokesman said if the e-cigarette items advertised on the website were found to breach the company's policies on illegal and tobacco products, they would immediately be taken down.
The devices, which look and taste similar to the real thing, are being sold on eBay for hundreds of dollars.
An eBay Australia spokesman said the website had a policy that prohibited the sale of tobacco products. He added that the relatively new devices may be included in this policy after an investigation.
E-cigarettes have attracted more attention since being demonstrated at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas last week.
They use battery-generated heat to create a flavoured vapour that users puff just like real smoke.
The devices – commonly from Chinese manufacturers such as Golden Dragon - even have tips that glow when the user inhales, simulating the ember of a real cigarette.
Yet this may not necessarily make e-cigarettes safer. While some devices can use flavoured capsules, they are mostly sold with nicotine.
Related Coverage
Y
This is stupid, any real scientist would know that nicotine isn't all bad, its actually been proven to ease the effects of illnesses like alzheimers and parkinsons disease, and ...
(Read More)
Jamie S of Australia
"This looks like another insidious, manipulative attempt to hook people on smoking," Health Minister Nicola Roxon told news.com.au.
"I'd be very concerned about any attempts to promote smoking, especially to young people."
According to a spokesperson for the Federal Department of Health and Ageing, every form of nicotine except for replacement therapies and cigarettes are classified as a form of poison.
Last October, the National Drugs and Poisons Schedule Committee (NDPSC) decided that this classification should remain for e-cigarettes, which effectively makes it illegal to sell nicotine e-cigarettes in all states and territories.
"The e-cigarette has not been evaluated for safety or efficacy," said a spokesperson for the Federal Department of Health and Ageing.
"Nicotine has well recognised physiological and pathological effects and, as with conventional cigarettes, the e-cigarette would be expected to lead to, and sustain, nicotine addiction."
eBay Australia's spokesman said if the e-cigarette items advertised on the website were found to breach the company's policies on illegal and tobacco products, they would immediately be taken down.