Australia is a huge market for E-Cigarettes and it has remained largely untapped with tight regulations. British American Tobacco (BAT), a tobacco giant, is not about to buckle with its investments made in Nicoventures, its E-Cig subsidiary. Trust BAT not to leave any stone unturned to advance its interest. It is out to get Australia one way or the other, and it chooses the “medicine path” according to Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
Note, however, that BAT is a cigarette company making billions from smokers’ continued use and patronage of traditional tobacco cigarettes. Is there anything you should know regarding BAT’s interest on E-Cig being pushed as medicine in Australia?
Why Push E-Cigs as Medicine: The Logic
Smoking tops the list of the causes of preventable diseases directly affecting the world’s mortality rate. Kicking the habit can prevent smoke-related diseases such as coronary diseases and lung cancer. With a device such as electronic cigarettes touted as a reasonable option when all else failed, medical practitioners believe that people hooked on smoking will be able to kick the habit for once and for all, thus decreasing the number of these medical cases and deaths.
With the restrictions on ENDS (electronic nicotine delivery systems) being imposed worldwide upon the recommendations of important health organizations – World Health Organization (WHO), American Heart Association (AHA) and American Lung Association (ALA) among others – Nicoventures and other E-Cig manufacturers are facing a big obstacle. If Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) is convinced, however, and electronic cigarettes are accepted under medicine licensure, expect BAT to be there right in Australia’s doorstep early in the ball game.
There’s the undeniable fact that medical regulations would make it difficult for small companies to ever grow in the Nation as serious manufacturers. Competitive grounds will be reserved for wealthy corporations, and that is everything the global vaping community is against at this time. While still wanting safe and quality products, none of these individuals are looking forward to paying tobacco companies for e-cigs now.
Looking into BAT’s Motives
You can’t help but give color to BAT’s motives for wanting to influence Australia’s health authorities when it met with TGA in November of 2013. It is, after all, a tobacco giant ranking fifth in the world and raking in billions of profits from sales of tobacco products. With prescription, E-Cig use is expected to rise. This may cause BAT to significantly lose a lot of money, not to mention face the threat of being eased out of business. Following the logic, you’ll find asking the question: What’s in it for BAT?
Just Asking: A Rational Surmise
Is BAT joining ‘em (meaning the E-Cig business) though Nicoventures for real? Is E-Cig such a big threat that they have decided to join the bandwagon to get an ample share of the market if eventually BAT buckles under diminished sales? Are they hoping to make Nicoventures bigger when all signs of financial loss start showing up on BAT’s sales of traditional tobacco cigarettes?
Is there a hidden agenda somewhere that consumers need to know? Some advocates insinuated that BAT can manufacture low quality products that will cause them not to perform as expected to make more health organization stop the industry on its track through stricter regulatory policies. Is BAT purposely derailing E-Cig’s progress by employing some dirty, underhanded tactics?
As a fence-sitter who is simply following the flow of logic in this issue, what do you think is BAT’s motive when it pushes E-Cigarettes as medicine?With the upcoming workshop for electronic cigarette and public health this December 2014, will Australia get enough doses of e-cigarettes in the future as medicine?