Australia backtracks on bill to ban over-the-counter vapes

In Australia, Health Minister Mark Butler reached an agreement with the Green Party on Monday to weaken the e-cigarette bill, allowing it to be passed in the Senate on Monday 1^er July. The initial text, which failed to gain support from the Greens or the Coalition (Nationals Party), provided for severe penalties for unlicensed shops selling illegal products and required a prescription from a general practitioner with sales limited to pharmacies only.

The initial bill, debated in the Australian Parliament last February and supported by all of the country's federal ministers, would have forced specialist vaping stores to close by banning the import, manufacture and sale of e-cigarettes without a prescription and outside of pharmacies nationwide.

The new changes, proposed by the Greens, will make e-cigarettes a "pharmacist-only" product, regulated in the same way as other over-the-counter medicines, a step backwards from the "prescription-only" status envisaged in Mr Butler's original draft. The last-minute changes have provoked anger and confusion from health associations and pharmacists, who have said they are healthcare professionals, not "retailers".

Vaping products to remain available over the counter in pharmacies in Australia

The measure, initially limited to pharmacy sales and prescriptions from a doctor, was supported by all federal ministers, public health organisations and medical experts in Australia. According to the latest figures collected by the Department of Health in March 2023, 14% of 15-24 year olds reported regular use of e-cigarettes, a rate significantly higher than the 4.5% rate found for the same age group in a similar 2019 study by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.[1]

The amendments adopted will thus limit the sale of vaping products in pharmacies but will no longer be subject to a medical prescription for adult consumers who will be able to buy them freely. The new bill will also allow people under 18 to have access to vapes with a prescription if this is deemed clinically appropriate. E-cigarettes sold in pharmacies will remain regulated and subject to the obligation of plain packaging, with flavors limited to mint, menthol or tobacco flavors.

A spokesperson for the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, which represents 5,800 community pharmacies nationally, said the change was a “bad decision” and called the idea of pharmacists becoming vaping retailers “insulting”. Roger Magnusson, a health law and governance expert at the University of Sydney Law School, called the amendment “bad decision for public health making vapes everyday consumer products rather than therapeutic products.”

Political parties accused of bowing to tobacco industry pressure

Instead of completely banning the sale of vaping products, the Coalition wanted to regulate these products in the same way as tobacco products and limit their sale in specialized vaping stores.

The Australian Medical Association has accused MP David Littleproud and the Coalition party of bowing to pressure from the tobacco and vaping industry rather than following the advice of health experts, who are unanimous on the issue of vaping products. In 2023, Littleproud’s party received donations totalling $130,000 from Philip Morris and British American Tobacco. These donations came as the government sought to introduce these vaping reforms. In the 2022-23 financial year, tobacco industry donations to the Coalition party amounted to more than $20% of its total declared donations.

DT

[1] Tobacco-free generation, Australia: Study highlights rise in vaping among young people, GST, published April 3, 2023, accessed June 25, 2024

National Committee Against Smoking |