by Pippa Starr
September 14, 2021
For every taxpaying Australian, the cost of smoking burdens are now greater than $10000 per person every year. It doesn't matter whether you are a smoker or not, smoking is stifling economic opportunities for all Australians and it's about to get a whole lot worse!
At this economically dire time, as the Australian economy faces a trillion-dollar debt for the first time, it is a burden that I am sure most taxpayers aren't willing to sit down and watch their hard earned go up in smoke for.
Why? What's happening?
In 2 weeks’ from now, under the direction of Australia's Health minister
Greg Hunt with help from the TGA, they will be implementing their grand plan that will see more than 250000 former smokers return to the smokes by the end of the year.
Not many Australians know about this because the media isn’t covering this story a lot , because it’s smoking, not many taxpayers seem to care, especially non-smokers.
Why would or should a non-smoker care, after all it was their dumb choice to start smoking anyway, right?
Now more than ever, is a time that all Australians should care a lot, even if it is only about the amount of money that hit’s your hip pocket. Wait What?
Australia’s fourth highest source of taxation revenue comes from smoking, surely that will cover it, won’t it?
The around 17 billion dollars per year that Australian smokers contribute via importation and consumer taxes don’t even cover half of the public health expenses and therefore puts pressure on Australian taxes to increase.
Why are more than 250000 Australians returning to join the 3 million or so remaining smokers this year?
A survey of 6,733 Australian vapers found that 42% would likely go back to the smokes should any type of vaping ban proceed. Effectively what is coming in October is a defacto-ban. A lot vapers simply won't see their doctor to get a prescription for nicotine when it's way easier to just buy smokes from their local black market dealer or from over 25000 retail outlets across Australia.
Greg Hunt has decided that due to a very small amount of use of illegal vape products (that his government have failed to regulate) obtained and experimented with by less than 2% of 14-17 year old’s across Australia is out of control.
While teens should never be using vape products or smoke, it seems their natural propensity to rebel and experiment with these products has caused quite a stir.
Where would teens get the silly idea taught to them about what to vape, what sort of devices to use and where to buy them, while being told "you shouldn't do this", which of course translates to some teens: "why not give it a go!"?
The media and AT SCHOOL BY SO CALLED AUTHORITIES!
As seen here: https://schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/special-report-vaping-au
As a result, over 250000 legal adults who have quit smoking via vaping, that’s more than 10x the number of teens occasionally experimenting with those very low risk products, will return to smoking.
This will mean Australians are about to have their economy burdened even further from October this year due to a few public health extremists losing their minds over a proportionately small level of teen experimentation.
What’s next?
Are all adult Australians going to have to stop enjoying a light beer because a few teens are experimenting with alcohol?
Are Australian adults going to have to stop driving cars with seat belts, because a few teens are experimenting illegally behind the wheel?
Why would anyone form, let alone implement any policy in any context that reduces harm reduction to adults or anyone? It just doesn't make sense!
Vaping with nicotine is a harm reduction alternative for adult consumers that reduces the risks of smoking by at least 95%!
It truly is a massive issue that could even determine the outcome of the next federal election as an estimated 700000 plus people are ready to vote on the single issue of vaping.
If adults from next month don’t get a prescription from their doctor for nicotine vaping to help them quit the cigarettes (as an estimated 250000 existing vapers won’t and will return to smoking) they will be penalized for possession and importation of their nicotine vapes.
Penalties in each state vary up to $45000 and in some states possibly a 6-month jail term for possession of a nicotine vape product.
Additionally, if any adults from anywhere bring any nicotine vaping products into Australia without an Australian doctors prescription, they will be penalized a further bankrupting $220000.
If it's not bad enough already for 600000 Australian vapers to know about the laws coming from October, many doctors don't either and many are already turning their back on prescribing nicotine for vaping.
These new laws include not only all Australians that vape but also Australian visitors.
"Welcome to Australia, may I check your bag sir/madam/other, hmm is that a nicotine vape? Have you got an Australian Doctors prescription for that? NO?
Ok, I'l have that and you can have this $220000 fine! Enjoy your stay!"
That is how we will be greeting Leonardo Dicaprio, Kate Winslet, Samueal L Jackson and every other tourist to Australia from October that uses a nicotine vaping product!
Last weekend I toured the city of Brisbane and spoke to many people who had quit smoking with vaping. Not one of them even knew about the new regulations coming in a couple of weeks.
The information source that the TGA seems to be relying on to inform people who quit smoking with this non deadly method is their you tube channel.
They have one 3 minute information video that today has only around 1000 views and with their comments turned off, they are clearly not willing to engage with the public or answer their questions.
Basically, Australia has a situation where smokers are trying to improve their health hence improving the economy and are about to be slugged fines that will bankrupt them in the harshest economic environment Australia has ever experienced.
Over 600000 Australians have discovered for themselves an at least 70% effective method to quit smoking that is non deadly, is at least 95% safer than smoking and hasn’t ever caused a debilitating heart or lung disease or death in 18 years of use that has helped over 68 million people across the planet to finally quit the smokes, and Greg Hunt is effectively hoodwinking them.
Vapers are actually helping to remove economic burdens of smoking from the Australian economy with no help from the Government.
It’s clear that policy like this is not only deceptive, but it is also at a massive detriment to our economy. As approximately 21000 people die this year from a smoking related disease, policy like this, set out by Australia’s Health minister is destined to fail and will burden taxpayers even further and more people will die prematurely as a result.
In my last article, I mentioned that I think in a perverted and twisted way, Greg Hunt thinks his policy regarding vaping with nicotine will save the economy and health of some teens.
While Greg Hunt may bankrupt a few Australian vapers through his poor policy, I don’t think many voting taxpayers are going to stand for it.
Especially when in the long term it will not only burden the economy further, it will cause more smoking deaths.
Will you stand by and see Australians and the Australian economy go up in smoke?