From: The Australian
Sean Parnell, Health Editor Brisbane
THE Abbott government has taken a tentative first step towards the regulation of e-cigarettes.
The Intergovernmental Committee on Drugs, which advises the nation’s health ministers, is hiring consultants to develop a discussion paper on the risks associated with the marketing and use of the electronic nicotine delivery systems.
The sale of e-cigarettes containing nicotine is prohibited under state and territory poisons laws and despite claims that the devices might help reduce the smoking rate, they have never been properly examined by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, which regulates other nicotine replacement therapies.