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As of today, all cigarette packaging in New Zealand will come complete with graphic images depicting the horrific fate which awaits you if you are a smoker. I don’t know about you, but there’s something not quite right with this picture.

Personally, it wouldn’t bother me if the entire cigarette package was covered in images of ruptured arteries and amputated toes - hell, I probably wouldn’t even be too worried about an actual artery hanging out the bottom of my packet. I would still smoke. I’d just transfer the cigarettes from the packet to one of the nice tins which the tobacco companies brought out in anticipation of this move a few months back. I just don’t get it.

Now, we have something which so obviously removes the harm associated with cigarette smoking - and, I’m only advocating this for people who are already addicted to nicotine. We have something that will clear the air for those around the smoker - those who would otherwise be subjected to second-hand smoke. The innocent children who, because their parents smoke, become addicted before they even know what the word “addiction” means.

If the New Zealand government were really serious about harm reduction around those who already smoke, it’s quite simple. I have one word for them - “E-cigarette“.

Let it be sold freely at the local dairy or tobacconist. I am completely on the side of Dr Murray Laugeson and others who are advocating for cigarette displays at shops to be removed. That’s absolutely fine, and would be a great way of reducing the numbers of kids taking up smoking, but at the same time, we have a generation of smokers here and now, who are addicted and who need a way out. I say, let’s give smokers easy access to e-cigarette products and watch the smoking-related hospital waiting lists dwindle down to nothing.

It’s common knowledge that nicotine is the addictive substance in cigarettes - no-one is denying that. But, nicotine is harmless when compared to the other (approximately) 4000 chemicals found in a typical cigarette.

How many smokers have tried all other methods to quit, without success? I know I have. I’ve even tried lung surgery.

So, the government makes a big fuss about all the amazing things they are doing to reduce the harm caused by cigarettes - banning it in a public place. Okay, that’s good for the non-smoker. Putting horrific images on the packets. Doesn’t work for existing smokers - might work for the kids who are thinking about starting.

The e-cigarette is NOT a quit smoking device. It is a replacement for those who would like to reduce the harm that their smoking is causing to themselves and others around them. That is so simple that it’s not even funny.

My suggestion to the government would be this - if you are so serious about reducing the harm that cigarettes cause, allow the sale of e-cigarette products by tobacconists and other retail outlets. What harm can this possibly cause? I know that it would reduce a huge amount of harm - massive.

Every smoker who I have spoken to about, and shown the e-cigarette to so far, has ordered one directly from the manufacturer - that is a huge vote of confidence in this life-saving invention.

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