The Australian government’s war on vaping has a new schedule, as confirmed by Health Minister Mark Butler, who announced new rules in May 2023. The importation of single-use vapes into Australia will be prohibited starting in January 2024, with other regulations to come.
The prohibition will be implemented in an attempt to address the “new generation of nicotine dependency” that Minister Butler has referred to as children’s nicotine addiction. More restrictions on the flavours and nicotine concentration levels of vapes, as well as their distribution, labelling, and packaging, will be put into effect in the upcoming months.
Australia was the first nation in the world to outlaw the sale of vape devices for recreational use in May 2023. Australians continue to vape at high rates despite the ban, obtaining their vaporizers from both the illicit market and doctor prescriptions. Additionally, even though prescription vapes will still be available—a new strategy allowing all medical professionals and nurse practitioners to prescribe therapeutic vapes will start in January 2024—the new regulations should reduce the overall quantity of vapes in use.
A complete prohibition on the importation of non-therapeutic vapes and more stringent limitations on the flavours of vapes that medical experts may recommend are among the additional laws that are scheduled to be implemented in March 2024.
The government’s stance has been reinforced by data showing Australians who vape have a threefold increased risk of starting to use tobacco, despite smoking being the country’s greatest preventable cause of death.
Minister Butler has called the recreational use of vapes in Australia “a major public health issue.” Nevertheless, limits will be put in place to stop the prescription of therapeutic vapes to assist smokers in quitting.
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