I am a strange choice as a foreword contributor to a report on cigarettes.
When I was a child, my parents smoked for a while. I kept pestering them to quit until they finally did. I remember my mother telling me afterwards that I would be in trouble if I ever started smoking myself, having just put them through the traumatic experience of giving up.
For fear of my mother and for my intense dislike of tobacco smoke, I have thus never smoked a single cigarette.
Or maybe it was the simple realisation that I have enough vices that I do not need another one.
That last sentence may sound flippant but it is not.
I understand that in my life I frequently make decisions that are not entirely healthy, at least from a physiological point of view. And if most people were honest, they would admit the same.
I enjoy a good drink, I believe that a lunch without a dessert is incomplete, and you better avoid me in the morning if I have not had my two strong coffees yet.
From a strictly physiological point of view, life without whiskey, panna cotta and flat whites is possible. But to me it would feel pointless.
Or, to be more precise, there is an emotional enjoyment from consuming these products which goes beyond their physiological benefits (or lack thereof).
I can only imagine that some people might feel the same way about smoking.
There must be something in the act of smoking that appeals to smokers. Of course, there is the nicotine which is a proven stimulant. It also reduces appetite and stimulates metabolism (which is the only thing that would make it sound vaguely attractive to me). It might also be the glue which binds people together socially, much in the same way that I like to meet people for coffee or a drink.
The main problem with tobacco though, as Jenesa Jeram reminds us in her report, is the way in which it was traditionally delivered: in clouds of tobacco smoke.
As it is widely known, the majority of smoking’s bad health effects result from the combustion of tobacco which releases not just the nicotine but a burst of nasty and toxic by-products.
So the basic thought behind alternatives to conventional cigarettes is the idea of delivering what smokers want but without these toxic by-products.
It is the equivalent of a calorie-free dessert, an alcohol-free whiskey and a caffeine-free (but still stimulatory) coffee. Frankly, if these products existed, I would switch to them.
For nicotine delivery, there are now a range of products and technologies available that allow people to indulge in their nicotine addiction without the dangers resulting from smoking. Even better, there are also products that also deliver the inhalation experience that smokers like but, again, without the nasties of conventional cigarettes.
As Jenesa Jeram explains in this report, if we really care for smokers, we should make it easier for these new products to be used. They are a better alternative to cigarettes. They may even help some people quit altogether.
This is not to stigmatise smokers. Even though I intensely dislike the smell of traditional cigarettes, my other vices make me tolerant enough to respect smokers’ choices. As an aside, you can be without vices and still lack the virtue of tolerance.
But it is about allowing smokers a path towards a better alternative. This is what Jenesa Jeram’s report is about, and I hope it will inform debates around vaping in New Zealand and beyond.