Australia: Prescription cigarette sales considered

A plan to end smoking in Australia has included the sale of prescription cigarettes among the measures to reduce tobacco consumption.

In Australia, where smoking prevalence is just under 15, the ambition is to get to zero [1] . The Centre of Excellence for Research on Tobacco Control (CREATE), which initiated the recommendations presented in this article, is based at the University of Queensland and involves researchers from 11 institutions in Australia and New Zealand [2].

Australia leads in tobacco control

In this country at the forefront of the fight against smoking, there is no shortage of initiatives to combat smoking. Australia is also the first state to have imposed plain packaging [3]. Researchers have, for example, suggested ending sales to people born after a given year in order to phase out tobacco sales.

Department of Health figures show that around 2.3 million people smoke tobacco daily in Australia, which is less than 15 per cent of adults (the Federal Government aims to reduce this to 10 per cent by 2025).4]. Smoking prevalence has declined at an average rate of approximately 0.4 % per year since 2010 [5The strategies put in place are working well: in the 1990s, 25% of the population smoked; today, this figure has been halved.6].

Towards an obligation to present a prescription to buy cigarettes?

The CREATE research center aims to reduce the number of tobacconists and restrict the sale of tobacco to specific locations, such as pharmacies. Indeed, requiring a prescription to purchase cigarettes is one of the proposals put forward by the University of Queensland's Center for Tobacco Control Studies. However, the center's director, Coral Gartner, insists that CREATE is not focusing solely on this approach, which would be the most restrictive of the various options being considered by the research center.7].

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[1] Richard Wood, Radical plan to make Australia smoking-free says prescription cigarette sales should be considered, www.9news.com (October 13, 2020, accessed November 17, 2020). [2] The University of Queensland, Endgame: center hopes to stamp out smoking in Australia, www.uq.edu.au (October 9, 2020, accessed November 17, 2020). [3] Paul Gratian, Will a medical prescription soon be required for smoking? Australia's surprising anti-smoking idea, www.ouest-france.fr (October 15, 2020, accessed November 17, 2020). [4] Richard Wood, Radical plan to make Australia smoking-free says prescription cigarette sales should be considered, www.9news.com (October 13, 2020, accessed November 17, 2020). [5] Ibid. [6] Paul Gratian, Will a medical prescription soon be required for smoking? Australia's surprising anti-smoking idea, www.ouest-france.fr (October 15, 2020, accessed November 17, 2020). [7] The University of Queensland, Endgame: center hopes to stamp out smoking in Australia, www.uq.edu.au (October 9, 2020, accessed November 17, 2020). DNF - For a Zero Tobacco World |