Senator Hollie Hughes, who heads the Senate Select Committee on Tobacco Harm Reduction, has reportedly made the switch from smoking to vaping.
Hughes, an NSW Liberal senator, used to be a social smoker. That was over three months ago. Since switching to vaping, Hughes has already saved over $2500 by vaping instead of smoking the $58-a-pack cigarettes that she used to smoke.
Also Read: Is Vaping Cheaper Than Smoking?
Hughes is by no means the only Australian to have quit cigarettes by switching to nicotine vaping products, but what makes her story particularly interesting is the fact that it is the committee that she leads, the Senate Select Committee on Tobacco Harm Reduction, that has opened an inquiry into nicotine vaping products.
Back in mid-June, Mr Hunt introduced a bill to ban the importation of nicotine-containing vaping products and fine Australians who breached the ban more than $200,000.
In response to his proposed ban, 28 National and Liberal MPs signed an open letter urging him to call it off. Senator Hughes was among those who signed the letter.
The MPs who signed the letter conveyed their concern that the proposed move to ban nicotine vape imports was "too rushed" and that it risked sending Australian vapers back to the cigarettes that they had left behind with the help of nicotine vaping products.
Mr Hunt then delayed the proposed ban, pushing the start date to 1 January 2021—a delay of six months.
This is when Senator Hughes decided that it was time to launch an investigation into vaping.
The Senate Select Committee on Tobacco Harm Reduction was established on 6 October 2020, launching an inquiry into tobacco reduction strategies with a focus on nicotine vaping products.
While Hughes told The Sydney Morning Herald that she "had zero intention of quitting" cigarettes when she first started vaping, she has since seen the light as she now says that she has "zero want, need, desire for a cigarette" after switching to vaping, adding that the very thought of one now makes her feel ill.
"I have zero want, need, desire for a cigarette at all, in fact the thought of one makes me feel quite ill."
"I do hope that we can work with the health minister to say there are people that just want to consume nicotine in a safer way than cigarettes, and you can buy cigarettes pretty much everywhere," Hughes told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Hughes now wants the Australian Government to make nicotine e-cigarettes readily accessible to Australian smokers by regulating them as a consumer product and allowing them to be sold in local stores.
In the meantime, Mr Hunt's proposed ban on nicotine vape imports has been scrapped, which means adult Australians can continue to import nicotine vaping products such as e-cigarettes and e-liquid from overseas suppliers for personal use.
UPDATE: As of 1 October 2021, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) requires vapers in Australia to maintain a valid vaping prescription to purchase nicotine vaping products. You can learn more about nicotine prescriptions in Australia here.