Lung Foundation Australia is seeking clinician support for its advocacy campaign against Big Tobacco’s bid to market another harmful product in Australia: heat-not-burn (HnB) tobacco.
Unlike e-cigarettes that use chemical liquids, HnB electronic devices contain tobacco leaf that is heated to generate a nicotine-containing vapour.
In late 2019, tobacco company Philip Morris International (PMI) made an application to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) seeking to list tobacco prepared and packed for heating as an exempt item under the Poisons Standard.
But the Lung Foundation is strongly urging the TGA to reject a proposal, which would allow the novel tobacco products to be sold to people over 18 in Australia.
“These products are toxic and addictive; and will create lung disease in a new generation of Australians,” said CEO Mark Brooke in a statement released on 16 January.
Philip Morris claims that the HnB products would be a safer alternative to conventional cigarettes because they produce lower levels of toxic chemicals. It says HnB products would be a “better alternative for current Australian smokers who do not quit”.