Risk Factors !

At the end of the second world war nearly half of all Australian men smoked some form of tobacco.  A that time it was not known to have a health risk and cigarette advertising featured heavily on masculinity to promote the product.  The American Surgeon-General dropped a bombshell when it was claimed that smoking was directly related to lung cancer.

The giant tobacco industry fought a long delaying war to stave off legislation to curb smoking, but medical exposure was relentless. In Australia the advertising of cigarettes was banned, the tax on the product sharply increased and eventually a draconian law made the appearance of the product repulsive to discourage use.  Smoking rates have been steadily dropping but appear to have stabilized at near twenty percent.

There seems little more that an be done to curb smoking.  Areas where smoking is not permitted has extended from cafes and dining rooms to beaches and open air venues and even smoking in the smokers own home is facing restrictions if the smoke manages to penetrate a neighbours home.  It is illegal to smoke in a car if children are also passengers.

Perhaps the greatest change has been the public attitude to smoking.  Lighting up in public is now seen as a social sin.  Simply walking down the street smoking a cigarette attracts hostile stares and even many teenagers no longer find it " cool " !

We seem to have reached the stage where what remains is a hard core of smokers who will continue to use this product as long as it is legally available, and will probably gain supply from the people who smuggle drugs if we ever bite the bullet and make it a prohibited item.

The ever resilent tobacco industry sought to rebrand its product with " E " cigarettes.  The tobacco was heated instead of being burned to produce a " vapour " to which various flavours could be added.  It was claimed that this eliminated the risk factor but the product was either banned or heavily restricted in most Australian states.

Now Philip Morris is proposing a new version of this " no smoke " cigarette which differs from the " E " cigarette. The company has spent $ US 3 billion on research and development and claims that they have eliminated all the health risks associated with burning tobacco.  Sight unseen, this innovation has been banned in New Zealand.

Australia must weigh the risks of permitting sales here.  There is a chance that it could convert existing smokers to the new product, but if it is advertised heavily it may create a renewed interest in smoking.  No doubt the tax imposed on conventional tobacco will apply to this new product, but smoking imposes a heavy cost on the health system and the medical lobby would like to see all forms of tobacco completely banned.

No doubt the health aspect of this new product will be contentious.  The most likely outcome will be a ban and continuation of the progressive programme to price tobacco out of existence.   It seems to be the aim of government to steadily increase sales tax to the point where continuing to smoke becomes an intolerable cost burden to most smokers.

Of course, this has unintended consequences.   Tobacco smuggling has joined illicit drugs as a profit line for the illegal importing trade.  " Chop Chop "  - as it is called - seems freely available where drugs are traded.   It seems unlikely that the government will ever completely rid Australia of the tobacco health menace !