Ethical issues for e-cigarette control policies in Australia

Abstract

Although tobacco smoking in Australia is at a historical low, electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use, especially among the youth is increasing. Policies around e-cigarette control in Australia are currently evolving, even during the pandemic, thus demonstrating its priority status. The current article discusses ethical issues for e-cigarette control policies in Australia using a public health ethics framework. The article is structured using the domains of the WHO-MPOWER framework of tobacco control to enable a comprehensive coverage of all elements of e-cigarette control policies in Australia. It highlights several ethical issues, from different stakeholder perspectives, and indicates moral and ethical tensions in different public health actions that might be considered in framing policies around e-cigarette control.