Recreational vaping will be banned in Australia. image source: GETTY IMAGES
Australia will outlaw recreational vaping as part of a broad campaign against what experts call an “epidemic” in the industry.
Due to lax regulation and a booming black market, Australia will set minimum quality requirements for vapes and restrict their sales to pharmacies.
Health Minister Mark Butler claims that despite the fact that nicotine vapes are currently subject to prescription requirements in the nation, this new generation of nicotine addicts is being created by these items.
Vapes, commonly referred to as e-cigarettes, heat a liquid, usually containing nicotine, and turn it into an inhalable vapor, making them a well-liked smoking cessation aid all over the world.
Vapes, however, are already a popular recreational item, especially among Australian metropolitan youth.
Health Minister Mark Butler compared “Big Tobacco’s” plan with vapes to their approach with smoking by developing a new cohort of nicotine addicts through the use of attractive packaging and delectable flavors in a speech announcing measures on Tuesday.
He claimed that he felt duped by these marketing strategies.
Health experts say that while vapes do not contain tobacco, which makes them safer than regular cigarettes, they may still include chemicals, and it is not yet clear what their long-term effects will be.
In the UK, as part of its “swap to stop” initiative, the government even provides certain smokers with free vapes.
The Australian government views vapes as a hazard to public health, particularly for young individuals who have never smoked.
According to research, one in four Australians between the ages of 18 and 24 and one in six Australians between the ages of 14 and 17 have tried vaping.
Mark Butler, the health minister, who is 52 years old, claimed that just one in 70 persons his age vape.
He contends that these goods are readily available in retail establishments next to candies and chocolates and are purposefully marketed to youngsters.
According to Australian media sources, vaping has also emerged as the “number one behavioral issue” in high schools, with some putting vape detectors in their restrooms.
The federal government intends to work with state and territory governments to identify the proper sanctions for e-cigarette possession without a prescription, according to health minister Mark Butler.
Reforms impose even stricter regulations.
Australia is renowned for having some of the strictest anti-smoking regulations in the world.
Health Minister Mark Butler compared the new vape regulations to those that made Australia’s cigarette smoking rates among the lowest among developed countries.
In addition to a ban on all disposable vapes, Health Minister Mark Butler also announced harsher regulations for the importation of non-prescription drugs.
Products for vaping that are still legal must be packaged like pharmaceuticals and come with a prescription.
There will also be new limitations on the flavors, colors, levels of nicotine, and other chemicals.
Mr. Butler highlighted that there won’t be any more vape items that resemble highlighter pens or have bubble-gum fragrances that youngsters may hide in their pencil cases.
The government wants to make it easier for individuals to obtain a prescription for the legal therapeutic use of vaping goods, nevertheless.
The reforms’ implementation schedule has not yet been disclosed.
Vaping has already been outlawed in Singapore and Thailand, and Australia’s pharmaceutical authority, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, has been pushing for reform.
According to the Cancer Council, the suggested reforms might “stop the e-cigarette epidemic and prevent a recurrence for a new generation of Australians.
” Politicians, business associations, and medical experts contend that Australia’s vaping regulations ought to be more lenient.
David Littleproud, the leader of the National Party, has argued that Australia should regulate nicotine vapes in a manner similar to that of New Zealand, where cigarettes are regulated similarly.
Others fear that more people may turn to the unregulated black market for vaping items as a result of harsher laws.