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Unintended consequences of a cautious approach to e‐cigarette laws

Christian Catalano, Noel E Cranswick, Jeff Robinson, Joanne Grindlay, Mick Creati, Margie H Danchin, Nicola Williams and Amanda Gwee
Med J Aust 2019; 210 (3): . || doi: 10.5694/mja2.50001
Published online: 18 February 2019

To the Editor: The Australian Government's decision to uphold a restriction on Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), or e‐cigarettes, is in keeping with its highly effective tobacco control framework. In its March 2017 ruling, the Therapeutic Goods Administration outlined the lack of long term safety data around ENDS and the emerging evidence suggesting that availability of these devices may be associated with an increase in cigarette smoking in young adults.1


  • 1 Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, VIC
  • 2 University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC
  • 3 Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, VIC
  • 4 Victorian Poisons Information Centre, Austin Health, Melbourne, VIC
  • 5 Burnet Institute, Melbourne, VIC


Competing interests:

No relevant disclosures.

  • 1. Final decisions and reasons for decisions by delegates of the Secretary to the Department of Health. Canberra: Therapeutic Goods Administration; 2017; 23 March; p. 75. https://www.tga.gov.au/sites/default/files/scheduling-delegates-final-decisions-23-march-2017.pdf (viewed Dec 2018).
  • 2. Chatham‐Stevens K, Law R, Taylor E, et al. Notes from the field: calls to poison centers for exposures to electronic cigarettes — United States, September 2010 – February 2014. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2014; 63: 292–293.
  • 3. Kamboj A, Spiller HA, Casavant MJ, et al. Pediatric exposure to e‐cigarettes, nicotine, and tobacco products in the United States. Pediatrics 2016; 137: e20160041.
  • 4. Schep LJ, Slaughter RJ, Beasley DM. Nicotinic plant poisoning. Clinical Toxicol (Phila) 2009; 47: 771–781.
  • 5. Mayer B. How much nicotine kills a human? Tracing back the generally accepted lethal dose to dubious self‐experiments in the nineteenth century. Arch Toxicol 2014; 88: 5–7.
  • 6. Walley SC, Jennsen BP. Electronic nicotine delivery systems — policy statement. Section on tobacco control. Pediatrics 2015; 136: 1018–1026.

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