A bill before the Australia Senate this week finally closes major loopholes in vaping regulations. Once passed it will put an end to convenience retailers, petrol stations, tobacconists and vapes shops openly selling illegal, lolly-flavoured vapes to young people. Come 1 July, no vapes – regardless of their design or contents – will be permitted for general retail sale in Australia. This is a win for public health, for parents, for teachers and for young people.
Over the last few years vaping rates among young Australians have skyrocketed. Claims by the vape and tobacco industry that vapes are for adult smokers who need them to quit smoking have proved increasingly hollow as child-friendly flavoured products, sold in vape shops near schools, have multiplied across the country.
On paper, Australia has had strong vape regulations in place since October 2021. From that time, any adult wanting to legally use and purchase a nicotine-containing vape needed to obtain a prescription from a doctor. In reality, the vape regulations contained so many loopholes that only a small fraction of vape users bothered to get a prescription.
The biggest loophole being that non-nicotine vapes, subject to only light-touch controls, quickly flooded the market. But these so-called non-nicotine vapes were deliberately mislabelled, or not labelled at all, and contained high concentrations of addictive nicotine. Enforcement proved to be impossible, and the public health sector has been united in calling for reforms to close this loophole. Without reforms, the prescription model could never be implemented as it was intended.
The original bill has been subject to last-minute amendments from the Greens that means the prescription-only access requirement will be removed on 1 October. Vapes will instead be available as pharmacy-only products and sold behind the counter. These changes have been positioned as a necessary alternative to “prohibition”.
The original bill was endorsed by public health experts and was based on the best available research and evidence that the prescription model would ensure that vapes were only being used for smoking cessation. Moving to behind-the-counter sales weakens this tight control and will require additional support for monitoring, compliance and enforcement.
Vape proponents and the tobacco industry have argued that all vapes, including nicotine-containing products, should be sold as consumer products and readily available in groceries stores and convenience retailers, just like cigarettes are currently sold. While this bill does not at all enable the tobacco industry to sell its vaping products alongside cigarettes, it is essential that the tobacco industry not be permitted to deploy its extensive marketing experience to influence what products will be stocked in pharmacies.
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The tobacco industry has a long history of “wining and dining” retail suppliers and providing incentives to stock and sell more products. Unlike some pharmacy chains in the US that sell cigarettes, Australian pharmacies do not have longstanding relationships with the tobacco industry. This must remain the case when vapes are sold behind the counter. In Canada, where vaping products are sold as consumer goods, the market is dominated by tobacco industry brands. Ensuring pharmacies are not leveraged by the tobacco industry to boost its tarnished reputation and vape sales is crucial.
Ending easy access to vaping products is necessary if we want to prevent another generation from becoming addicted to harmful products. Passing this bill is absolutely crucial to achieving this goal. Both the global tobacco industry and the tobacco control sector will be watching closely to see what happens next. Our unique approach to vaping regulation is poised to protect young people, but will require transparent evaluation.
Becky Freeman is an associate professor at the University of Sydney’s School of Public Health