University Assignment: Public Health Law and E-Cigarette Policy

This report delves into the public health law and policy surrounding e-cigarettes in Australia. It explores the health-related arguments for and against the use of e-cigarettes, examining the potential cardiovascular and carcinogenic risks, as well as the potential for harm reduction compared to traditional tobacco smoking. The report investigates whether policy makers should wait for conclusive evidence before acting, considering the controversies and various forms of evidence presented in the debate. It also identifies the values evident in discourses about e-cigarette policy, such as harm reduction and individual liberties, and names major stakeholders involved. Furthermore, the report analyzes the policy process, the framing of the issue by proponents and opponents, and offers the author's own conclusions regarding the controversy and potential policy decisions. The report also provides a comprehensive list of references.

Running head: PUBLIC HEALTH LAW AND POLICY
Public Health Law and Policy
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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1. What are the health-related arguments for and against permitting nicotine e-cigarettes in
Australia?
The commonwealth department of the industry in the country of Australia developed a report
regarding all the evidences on the impacts of the usage of the e-cigarettes in the country if
Australia. Some of the health related augments and the criticism regarding the use and the
production of the e-cigarettes in the country among the people of the country is as follows. Often
e-cigarettes are connected and associated with the clinical cardiovascular disease (Wolfenden,
Stockings & Yoong, 2017). It has been found after extensive studies and research that the use of
these cigarettes results in carcinogenic compounds and metabolites that possess high risk of the
development and the formation of the cancerous cell in the body together with emphysematous
destruction of the lungs, sleep disorder and craniofacial defects in the human body.
2. Should policy makers always wait for evidence to become available before acting?
There has been a multilayer controversy regarding the use and the health benefits of the e-
cigarettes together with its goal of the reduction of the smoking of the tobacco for the
conventional smokers. According to the public health Agency of the country, e-cigarettes are
claimed to be 95% less harmful and combustible cigarettes that are recommended for the
smokers which are unable to quit the smoking of the tobacco (GANNON, 2018). But
highlighting the potential effects and the risk of the use if the e-cigarettes as described above, it
is thus important for the policy makers to wait for further evidence before being available for
acting.

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3. What sorts of evidence have been presented in the e-cigarette controversy?
The controversy includes some of the factors like the e-cigarettes potentially offers a wide reach
and low cost interventions for the reduction of the smoking and the improvement of the health in
the groups of the society where the smoking is elevated.
4. What values (e.g. harm reduction, individual liberties) are evident in discourses about the e-
cigarette policy?
E-cigarette policy explains the reduction of harm and infection in the lungs that is mainly caused
by the smoking of the tobacco (Public Health England, 2018). Furthermore the policy claims to
reduce and abolish human immunodeficiency virus that is mostly caused by the injections drugs
by the introduction of the safe e-cigarettes.
5. Who are the major stakeholders in e-cigarette policy in Australia and internationally?
European Union, Government of Australia, Tobacco Company, WHO framework convention on
Tobacco Control, United Kingdom (Sharon, Ronald & Amy,2016)
6. In terms of the policy process, does the enquiry of the Standing Committee on Health, Aged
Care and Sport make for better public policy?
In the context of the framing and the development of the process of the policy, the enquiry of the
Standing Committee on Health in the field of the sport and the aged care makes for one of the
better policies. This is because the committee aims towards the wellbeing and wellness of the
people in the country together with their status of their health. The committee furthermore
specialises in the care towards the aged population of the country.

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7. How have the proponents and opponents of e-cigarettes “framed” (in terms of defining the
policy problem) the policy issue of e-cigarettes?
In the country of Australia, the regulation and the propagation of the e-cigarettes and the nicotine
is one of the shared responsibilities among the federal government and the states. Both the
proponents and the opponents of the e-cigarettes draws on the existing regulations of the tobacco
products, the therapeutic goods and the classification of nicotine as one of the dangerous poison
under the schedule 7 that is mostly used for the veterinary purpose. The policy issue of the e-
cigarette is framed as the potential risk of the benefits as a cessation aid for the smokers who
were unable to quit the traditional methods.
8. What are your own conclusions about the controversy? If you were deciding policy, would
you permit nicotine e-cigarettes to be sold in Australia? What are your reasons for your decision?
Personal conclusions regarding the controversy explain some of the key conception that includes
the perceived relative harm of the e-cigarette in comparison with the normal cigarette. I
personally feel that in contrast to the evidences and the data by the researchers, the legalisation
of the e-cigarettes may be done with the consideration of the factor of the replacement of the
nicotine which is actually harmful for health.

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References
Douglas, H., Hall, W., & Gartner, C. (2015). E-cigarettes and the law in Australia. Australian
family physician, 44(6), 415.
GANNON, M. (2018, January 29). AMA responds to e-cigarettes debate - MJA InSight 3, 29
January 2018 | doctorportal. Retrieved from
https://www.doctorportal.com.au/mjainsight/2018/3/ama-responds-to-e-cigarettes-debate/
Interview with Dr. Amy Fairchild on public health recommendations regarding electronic
cigarettes in England and the United States.
Supplement to the N Engl J Med 2016; 374:1301-1303
https://www.nejm.org/action/showMediaPlayer?
doi=10.1056%2FNEJMp1601154&aid=NEJMp
Public Health England (2018) Evidence review of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products 2018:
executive summary
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/e-cigarettes-and-heated-tobacco-products-
evidence-review/evidence-review-of-e-cigarettes-and-heated-tobacco-products-2018-
executive-summary
Sharon H. Green, Ronald Bayer & Amy L. Fairchild (2016) Evidence, Policy, and E-Cigarettes:
Will England Reframe the Debate? New England Journal of Medicine 374:1301-1303
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1601154
Wolfenden, L., Stockings, E., & Yoong, S. L. (2017, December 11). Regulating e-cigarettes in
Australia: implications for tobacco use by young people. Retrieved from
https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2018/208/1/regulating-e-cigarettes-australia-
implications-tobacco-use-young-people

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