Vapes Will Only Be Available From Pharmacies Once New Regulations Come In
Here's your reminder that new vape regulations come into force in a matter of weeks.
A gentle reminder: the vape ban is coming on October 1, meaning from then-on you will only be able to legally buy nicotine vapes if you have a doctor’s prescription. And you will likely only be able to get them from a chemist.
The new laws mean a doctor’s prescription will have to be strapped to the package of any imported nicotine vaporisers, otherwise Border Force will be able to destroy or confiscate the package. People with prescriptions will be able to import them using the Personal Importation Scheme.
Selling nicotine vapes is already prohibited in Australia, but this new ban will likely make them much harder to import for your local tobacconist or convenience store. Businesses could be fined up to $11 million for stocking unapproved vape products that don’t serve the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s (TGA) minimum safety and quality requirements. As of September 3, the TGA had not assessed or approved any vaping products.
The TGA’s new guidelines aim to prevent kids from taking up vaping while still allowing current smokers to access the safer products. Yesterday, new research was released that shows people under 20 who vape are believed to be more than three times as likely to take up cigarettes. The study was funded by the World Health Organisation and led by Australian researchers.
The new guidelines specify that vapes coming into Australia will have to have child-resistant packaging, nicotine limitations, and nicotine can be the only active ingredient.
There’s a whole list of ingredients that will be forbidden, including cinnamaldehyde (an ingredient that can be used to give a cinnamon flavour), acetoin (makes a buttery flavour), dl-alpha-tocopheryl acetate (which can increase the risks of prostate cancer), and ethylene glycol (which is generally used as an antifreeze), among others.