Australia is launching its second significant anti-vaping campaign in the past two years, outlawing the importation of any vaping goods marketed without a prescription, including hardware and e-liquid without nicotine. The government released a document describing its long-term tobacco and vaping plan along with the announcement of the measures today.
Mark Butler, the health minister, stated that Australia "needs to reclaim its position as a world leader on tobacco control."
The government's moves are a reaction to the increasing moral panic caused by the proliferation of low-cost, disposable nicotine vape pens available at convenience stores. However, the nation's vape shops will go out of business as a result of the ban on all imported hardware and e-liquid with zero nicotine.
Regulations will be strengthened, including for prescription nicotine vaping goods. Flavors other than tobacco will not be permitted, and items will only be offered for sale in simple packaging, similar to that of prescription drugs. The government claims that it will also completely outlaw disposable vapes and lower the permissible nicotine strength.
The Australian government views the ban on vaping as a necessary step.
As with its predecessor, the Labor Party government led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made a commitment to “reduce smoking and stamp out vaping” when it came to power in May 2022. Of Australia's budget for 2023–2024, Albanese has set aside $737 million for tobacco control initiatives, with over $200 million going toward the country's reaction to vaping in the mold of the Drug War.
The tobacco industry, which does not sell any vaping products in Australia, is held accountable by Health Minister Mark Butler for producing a "new generation of nicotine addicts."
Butler was scheduled to make a speech in which he predicted that "just like they did with smoking, big tobacco has taken another addictive product, wrapped it in shiny packaging and added flavours to create a new generation of nicotine addicts." The Guardian, which obtained an early copy of Butler's speech, was provided. Vaping was not invented by "Big Tobacco," and the majority of non-tobacco tastes were created by users.)
In Australia, cigarettes will still be available for purchase at every corner store without a prescription.
Butler states that the higher tobacco taxes will bring in an additional $3.3 billion over the next four years, along with a detailed breakdown of how the funds would be allocated, in a news release introducing the new measures. Due to its one of the highest cigarette tax rates in the world, Australia already has a sizable black market for tobacco products. More Australians than ever before will now purchase vaping items on the illegal market.
Australia can't ban anything the same way that many times?
In Australia, vaping items containing nicotine are already prohibited without a prescription. In order for the "new" prohibition to be successful, the government must be able to stifle imports and penalize businesses who sell disposable vapes, which are already prohibited. In order to get vaping items out of general shops like convenience stores and gas stations, the federal government says it will collaborate with the states.
Criminal charges against vapers could result from the nation's increased anxiety over nicotine. Depending on the state or territory where the criminal is arrested, possession of Schedule 4 medications—as nicotine is classified—without a prescription carries a maximum fine of $45,000 or a maximum sentence of two years in jail.
For many years, Australian law has prohibited the sale of vaping items containing nicotine without a prescription. However, vapers have mostly disregarded this prohibition, importing nicotine from outside to make their own e-liquid or purchasing zero-nicotine vape juice from vape shops and adding nicotine to it.
The previous Liberal coalition government pledged to strengthen border enforcement in 2021 and introduced a revamped prescription-only scheme for nicotine vaping goods. Nevertheless, the majority of customers had no interest in the prescription program, and few doctors decided to take part in it. Vape stores were permitted to keep stocking e-liquid with no nicotine and gear for vaping without any nicotine. Disposable vapes quickly took over Australia and the rest of the world.
The current administration claims that this will make it "easier to get a prescription for legitimate therapeutic use," but it's unclear if vapers will be willing to go through medical red tape to purchase low-nicotine, flavorless, or tobacco-flavored vape products.
