There are over 2.6 million smokers in Australia, and statistic show that at least two thirds of them will die from a smoking related illness. Those illnesses are also estimated to cost the health system somewhere in the vicinity of $30 billion dollars annually.

E-Cigarettes work on vapour from e-liquid or juice, rather than smoke, with the elimination of combustion estimated by the British Royal College of Surgeons to be up to 95 per cent safer than cigarettes.

However Australian laws state that e-liquid containing nicotine is illegal, however citizens can import “a three month personal supply” from overseas vendors.

One Tamworth man who needs no convincing is Healthwise worker Nick Grimes, who dropped a 16 year habit earlier this year with the help of e-cigarettes.

Mr Grimes would regularly smoke a pack a day, costing him over $10,000 a year, however a $50 e-cigarette and $40 worth of imported nicotine juice will cover the same period. The price of the e-liquid is also cheaper than one pack of patches.

“I tried a million times to stop – the gum and patches never worked,” Mr Grimes said.

“I did some research and four months ago my fiancee and I got e-cigarettes - we haven’t touched a cigarette since.

“This is the only country where a government can charge $30 for a pack of cigarettes and then ban a cheaper and healthier alternative.”

The government recently stood by their stance on e-cigarettes. The National Health and Medical Research clinic even cited that while e-cigarettes expose users to fewer toxic chemicals than conventional tobacco cigarettes”, the extent to which this reduces harm to the user has not been determined.”

That argument carries no weight according to Mr Grimes. “We know the risks of smoking. Give people the option, at worst it is harm minimisation,” he said.