PMI Offering Australian Pharmacies Discount Vapes

Philip Morris International announced it has made a deal with some Australian pharmacies to supply its VEEV vaping products below cost, despite the company’s opposition to the government’s new prescription vaping model.

VEEV marketing materials seen by Guardian Australia offer pharmacists an “introductory offer” to supply nicotine pods and devices at a discount.

The offer is also on the condition pharmacies do not sell a packet of two VEEV nicotine pods for more than AUD14.90 ($9.98) or devices for more than AUD19.90 – cheaper than what wholesalers can offer.

The recommended retail price for comparable pod products is AUD24.99. The marketing material for the offer only mentions PMI in fine print at the bottom of the document.

A spokesperson for the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia said it “urges pharmacists to be skeptical of any commercial offer from big tobacco”.

“There are currently no nicotine vaping products registered on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods and no company should be advertising unregulated products to Australian healthcare professionals,” the spokesperson said.

In May, the federal health minister, Mark Butler, announced that the government will ban the importation of nonprescription vaping products – including those that do not contain nicotine. Minimum quality standards for vapes are also being introduced, including restricting flavors, colors and other ingredients.

Vape products will require pharmaceutical-like packaging, and the allowed nicotine concentrations and volumes will be reduced. All single-use, disposable vapes are being banned.

A Philip Morris International spokesman told Guardian Australia; “We have always been open and transparent about the fact we will work within whatever legal and regulatory framework exists for these products in Australia”.

“This is in stark contrast to dozens of other vaping companies who are providing their product via the black market,” he said.