This was a campaign run by the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, and featured such lines as, “The reasons so many doctors prefer Camels are the same reason you’ll prefer Camels mildness and flavour.” Fast forward a couple of decades and tobacco smoking has been linked to not only airway and heart disease, but a risk factor for almost every type of cancer.
It goes without saying that your local doctor is not out there spruiking for cigarette companies anymore. In fact, advertising for tobacco is heavily regulated and restricted in most countries. Where once smoking was normalised, all medical professionals now agree that quitting smoking is effectively one of the best things smokers can do to reduce their risk of severe illness—and there are a variety of options available to help them overcome the addiction. Nicotine replacement therapy in the form of patches, gums and sprays has been commonplace for some time, as well as a couple of pharmaceutical options.
Then the vape came along, initially introduced as another instrument in the toolbelt of smoking cessation, except that it was cool and colourful and tasted like watermelons and raspberries and rainbows and bad decisions. Nicotine is one of the most addictive substances known to man, and while we use it to get people off harmful tobacco smoking, packaging it in shiny colourful tubes with flavours such as double apple and lush ice is likely to attract a crowd.
Inevitably this has resulted in an entire group of people newly addicted to nicotine who were not previously smokers. Vapes have found themselves all over high schools around the country, which has forced the government to step in. Now, we do not have the kind of information about the harms of vaping that we do about cigarettes, but one thing we have learnt since 1946 is to not wait until we have a cancer ward full of smokers before we do something about it.
This has resulted in the heavily publicised banning of the importation and sales of vapes and vaping hardware from tobacconists around the country with fines in the millions for transgressors. Many doctors, however, agree that despite the harms of vaping, what we can ascertain from the information we do have is that they are still safer alternatives to smoking tobacco. Whilst certain vapes have been available on prescription from doctors for some time, as of the 1st of October, low-dose nicotine vapes (20mg/mL or less) are now accessible over the counter from pharmacies following consultation with a pharmacist.
This won’t mean that rebellious youth can wag school to go to the pharmacy and buy vapes. They will only be available to current smokers or vapers who are over 18, and the only flavours available are mint, menthol, tobacco and unflavoured. One of the other issues with black market vapes is a lack of transparency with the ingredients and nicotine strength. The vapes accessible from pharmacies all use pharmaceutical-grade ingredients and there is a lot more transparency about what is in them and the actual amount of nicotine, which makes it easier to work towards actually quitting.
If you are struggling with a smoking addiction and other nicotine replacement options have failed you, or if you hit a vape once at a party and now throw a tantrum when your vape gets lost in the couch, pharmaceutical vaping options may be a suitable alternative. Speak to one of our pharmacists today to discuss what smoking cessation options may be best for you.
