Australia’s New Vape Rules Boosts Black Market

The Australian government’s plan to make pharmacies the gatekeepers of vaping will push more young people onto the black market, experts on the illicit trade say, as new data shows nicotine use is rising.

Nicotine levels found in wastewater in December were almost the highest since authorities started recording them in 2016, a worrying trend that the health department attributes to the rise of vaping among young people.

An Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission report last week found that nicotine consumption was highest in regional areas, and had risen from August in capital cities to be the second highest since 2016. The peak use of nicotine was in December 2022, according to media reports.

Federal Health Minister Mark Butler announced in May last year that the government would increase tobacco excise by five percent a year for three years to deter smoking.

“Studies have confirmed that the rise in vaping over the last decade has driven more young Australians to nicotine consumption,” a federal health department spokesman said, adding the nicotine data also captured people using nicotine patches and gum to quit smoking.

But former Australian Federal Police officer Rohan Pike, who created and led the Australian Border Force’s tobacco strike force, warns that many of the country’s 1.7 million vape users could actually be pushed into smoking.

Pike, who is speaking at a Victorian parliamentary inquiry into vaping and tobacco controls on Monday, says this would represent a “public health disaster.”

Since July 1, vape sales require a doctor’s prescription, nicotine levels are regulated, and flavors are limited to tobacco, menthol, and mint. Another requirement restricts products to plain packaging.