Tag: Australia

  • Australia’s New Vape Product Rules Take Effect

    Australia’s New Vape Product Rules Take Effect

    Image: alexlmx

    Australia’s new vape rules take effect today.

    As of Oct. 1, 2024, people aged 18 years and older can buy vapes from participating pharmacies with a nicotine concentration of 20 mg per milliliter or less without a prescription, where states and territory laws allow, according to the website of the Australian government’s Department of Health and Aged Care.

    Prior to purchasing, consumers must speak with a pharmacist, discussing the product and dosage, along with other options to quit smoking and/or manage nicotine dependence. Consumers must also provide proof of age.

    Pharmacies may sell only one month’s supply to a given customer over the course of one month.

    People under 18 years need a prescription to access vapes, where state and territory laws allow, to ensure they get appropriate medical advice and supervision.

    People who need vapes with a higher concentration of nicotine than 20 mg per milliliter also need a prescription, regardless of their age.

    Flavors are restricted to mint, menthol and tobacco, and vapes must adhere to plain pharmaceutical packaging standards. 

    The law targets commercial and criminal supply of vapes. Individuals, including people under 18 years, who have a small amount of vapes/vaping products for personal use will not be targeted under the law.

  • Study: Troubled Teens Likely to Start Vaping

    Study: Troubled Teens Likely to Start Vaping

    A new study has found that Australian high school students with symptoms of severe depression or poor well-being are twice as likely to have tried vaping.

    The study also found one-fifth of students in 7th and 8th grade had moderate to severe depression symptoms and demonstrated the need for early intervention targeting both mental health and vaping, experts said.

    In 2023, more than 5,000 students aged 12 to 14 were surveyed for the study as part of the OurFutures vaping prevention program led by the University of Sydney’s Matilda Centre, according to media reports.

    The results, published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, showed one-third of the cohort reported poor well-being, another third had high stress, and one-fifth had high anxiety.

    Students who reported moderate or high stress levels were 74% or 64% more likely to have tried vaping, respectively, than those who reported low levels of stress, though anxiety levels seemed to have little relationship with vape use.

    According to Michelle Jongenelis, an associate professor at the University of Melbourne, the results demonstrated the importance of early effective mental health support for young teenagers.

    The study added to previous research suggesting a connection between nicotine use and mental health issues but could not offer an explanation as data was drawn from a single point in time.

  • Australia’s New Vape Rules Boosts Black Market

    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.

  • Australia’s Vape Sales Restrictions Begin Today

    Australia’s Vape Sales Restrictions Begin Today

    Credit: Alexander

    Australia became the first country to restrict the sale of vapes to pharmacies when its new laws surrounding vaping products came into effect on Monday, stipulating sentences of up to seven years in prison and million-dollar fines.

    The law forces nicotine consumers who want a therapeutic vape to help quit smoking combustible cigarettes to consult their general practitioner and obtain a prescription to buy a therapeutic device from pharmacies.

    These products, whose access will be tightly controlled, will have plain packaging, and the flavors will be limited to tobacco, menthol and mint, according to media reports.

    “Australia has led the world in pushing back on Big Tobacco and fighting for the health of our citizens and we’re proud to continue that effort,” Australian Home Affairs Minister Claire O’Neil said in a statement released on Monday.

    Consumers over 18 years of age will be allowed to buy vapes with a maximum nicotine concentration of 20 mg/ml without a prescription until Oct. 1.

    Under the new reforms, businesses or individuals selling vapes will face a maximum sentence of seven years in prison and a fine of up to AU$2.2 million ($1.47 million), while companies that produce them would be subject to a maximum fine of around AU$22 million.

    The measures are part of amendments to the Therapeutic and Other Products (Vaping Reforms) Legislation 2024, which prohibits importing, manufacturing, distributing, and commercial possessing these devices, except with a license and special permit.

    The Australian government appointed Erin Dale as Commissioner for Tobacco and Illicit Electronic Cigarettes. Dale will assume the position on an interim basis on Monday until a formal appointment is made to intensify the fight against the expected rise in nicotine products on the black market.

    “Illegal tobacco is no different to any other illegal product – if you attempt to bring it into our country, you will be met by the full force of our border protection agencies,” O’Neil said.

    Several major pharmacy chains in Australia have stated that they will not stock vapes once their sale is prohibited outside of pharmacies and a prescription requirement for adults is lifted.

  • Australia: Major Pharmacies Against Vape Sales

    Australia: Major Pharmacies Against Vape Sales

    Credit: Jackie Davies

    Several major pharmacy chains in Australia have stated that they will not stock vapes once their sale is prohibited outside of pharmacies, and a prescription requirement for adults is lifted.

    In communications with their stakeholders, TerryWhite Chemmart, Priceline Pharmacy, National Pharmacies in South Australia, and 777 Group in West Australia all voiced strong disagreement with new laws allowing the sale of vapes without prescriptions.

    In a statement, The Pharmacy Guild of Australia said Blooms and thousands of independent pharmacies had also opposed the government’s deal with the Greens to open access for adults from October.

    Chemist Warehouse has told the ABC it is still looking at the implications of the decision and seeking more information on how it will work.

    While those pharmacies have indicated they will not be moving to stock vapes, franchisors under the brands are technically able to make an independent decision to do so.

    Many pharmacies under those brands already supply vapes nationwide or are licensed to do so. The key dispute raised by them is the “down scheduling” of vapes from October from requiring scripts to being available behind the counter for adults once they have had a conversation with their pharmacist.

    Health Minister Mark Butler said pharmacies would not be forced to stock vapes earlier this week, and the government did not expect that all pharmacies would.

  • Australia Softens Stance on Vaping Product Ban

    Australia Softens Stance on Vaping Product Ban

    Credit: Yavdat

    Australia will soften a proposed groundbreaking ban on vaping following opposition from the Greens party, leading the government to agree to revise a bill that would have limited vapes to those with a doctor’s prescription.

    The agreement between the ruling center-left Labor party and the Greens will lead to the passage of legislation later this week that restricts the sale of vapes to pharmacies and removes them from retail shelves. This move is aimed at curbing the rise in youth vaping.

    However, the bill falls short of the government’s initial ambition to restrict sales only to those with a doctor’s prescription, which would have been a world-first. The amended bill will take effect on 1 July, reports Reuters.

    Under the compromise deal, vapes will be moved “behind the counter” in October. Customers will need to have a conversation with the pharmacist before making a purchase, and under-18s will need a prescription.

    Health Minister Mark Butler said in a statement that the government “welcomed constructive engagement with the crossbench and secured the support of The Greens for our world-leading vaping laws.”

    The Labor party does not have a majority in the upper house and must negotiate with other parties and independent senators to pass legislation.

  • Australia: Over $1 Million in Illicit Nicotine Seized

    Australia: Over $1 Million in Illicit Nicotine Seized

    More than 30,000 vapes and tobacco products worth more than AUD 1 million ($650,000) have been seized by health authorities in a series of raids across Sydney.

    The major vaping blitz saw 60 retailers targeted throughout the city’s southeast last week.

    More than 30,000 e-cigarettes, 118,000 cigarettes, 45 kilograms of flavored and loose-leaf tobacco, and 284 containers of nicotine pouches were taken during the NSW Health and Therapeutic Goods Administration raids.

    The total street value of the seizures is over $1.1 million, NSW Health said.

    It takes the total value of illegal vapes and tobacco products seized across the state since July 2020 to $31.6 million.

  • Norm Bour: Vape Laws Vary From Country to Country

    Norm Bour: Vape Laws Vary From Country to Country

    Genoa at Gaya Vapes in Bali

    By Norm Bour

    As I travel from one country to the next, everything changes: languages, currencies, foods—and also vape laws, which are so specific and seemingly random that it is challenging to keep them straight.

    Before I arrived in Indonesia, I was in New Zealand and Australia—both modern, contemporary, First World countries.

    New Zealand seemed comfortable with its vape laws, and shops were abundant. In Sydney and Canberra, Australia, vape shops were less common, and I had little success getting concrete feedback from shop owners and employees. There seemed to be paranoia there, and maybe there was just cause.

    With Health Minister Mark Butler having proudly stated on the record that Australia’s vape laws will be the “toughest in the world,” the vape shop owners’ fears may be justified. The government is lowering the hammer on disposables, and so far, more than A$11 million ($7.3 million) of nicotine-containing vape products—11 tons—have been seized this year.

    In November, Butler announced that Australia would ban all imports of disposable vapes beginning Jan. 1, 2024. The ban will be expanded in March 2024 to include all nontherapeutic vapes, including refillable devices, while importers of vapes for medical purposes will need a permit from the Office of Drug Control.

    Therapeutic vapes will be restricted from using flavors, have limited nicotine levels and be sold in pharmaceutical packaging under new rules to be introduced in 2024, with a transition period for manufacturers to comply.

    The legislative package will also include a total A$75 million in extra funding for the Australian Border Force and the Therapeutic Goods Administration to enforce the new rules. Additional legislation next year will apply the same prohibitions to domestic manufacturers.

    When it’s all said and done, it appears that no vape products will be sold without a prescription, and instead, they will be sold at pharmacies. Say goodbye to vape shops, and say, “welcome back, black market.”

    New Zealand may not be far behind.

    Currently, vaping laws are reasonable in Kiwi Country, and vape shops can operate independently but with significant government oversight. Age restrictions are huge, and to that end, disposables and flavoring (including “enticing names”) will be banned in the near future.

    In late 2022, the New Zealand Parliament adopted the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Bill, which regulators said would phase out combustible tobacco product use in the country. However, in November, New Zealand’s new coalition government announced its plans to scrap the generational tobacco ban, which would have prohibited tobacco products for people born after 2009.

    While ditching the generational tobacco ban, the new government vowed to get tough on vaping by banning disposable e-cigarettes and increasing penalties for illegal sales to those aged under 18.

    Meanwhile, 2,000 miles to the north is another world—“a newly industrialized country with a rapidly growing economy and political stability,” per the Indonesian press.

    Most shops are basic in their appearance, as is their product supply.

    The government has mostly ignored the vape market, and aside from an excise tax on e-liquids, there are few regulations on physical or online shops. For a decade, the government has stated its intention to address vape products, but for now, it has settled on a tax rate of 57 percent on vape products versus 40 percent on tobacco.

    In September, the Indonesian Parliament passed Health Law No. 17 of 2023, which categorizes e-cigarettes as addictive substances. Teguh Basuki A. Wibowo, chairman of the Indonesian Electronic Nicotine Industry Alliance, told the media that including e-cigarettes in the legal framework for solid and liquid tobacco products legalizes industry participants and allows smokers to find alternative products.

    The law puts Indonesia on equal footing with countries like the Philippines and the U.K., which have similar legislative frameworks for e-cigarettes, Wibowo said.

    With almost 65 million smokers, Indonesia trails only China and India in terms of prevalence. Tobacco is heavily advertised through television and other media, which has traditionally been one of the first targets of restrictions.

    In the city of Ubud, Bali, a favorite base for expats from all over the world, I visited Nyali Vapes, and the shop’s owners confirmed the same trends I heard about elsewhere: Disposables are the largest sellers. The people at Gaya Vapes, my next stop, said likewise, and when I asked about surprise visits from regulators, counterman Genoa admitted that these visits are frequent.

    He also spoke about the differences between the locals and the tourists: “Most of the tourists come in for refills and [fewer for] disposables,” he said. “They ask for their flavors, and we usually do not have their exact brand, but we do have a similar flavor, which they are fine with.”

    One of the largest groups of visitors to Indonesia, and Bali in particular, are Australians, home to the world’s most expensive cigarettes, at more than $25 a pack. Over the course of my time in Bali, I asked some Aussies if they stocked up on smokes while they were visiting, and unanimously, they all said, “hell, yes!”

    Even though all countries are different, some vapers’ patterns are standard, including that of Genoa, the front desk guy at Gaya Vapes, age 25, who stopped smoking in 2017 and started vaping instead. But he did confess that sometimes money is tight, in which case he goes with a cigarette instead of a vape.

    Vaping is much cheaper, but liquid prices can be off-putting for consumers with Indonesian wages. Regardless, Genoa’s passion for vaping is what motivated him to work at Gaya, one of several shops in the area with that same name.

    For those earning foreign salaries, life is cheap in Indonesia, a condition that also applies to tobacco and vape products. A standard pack of cigarettes costs about IDR24,000, which equates to just under $1.60. A name brand like Marlboro will set you back about $2.25 per pack, which is still a bargain for those accustomed to foreign prices. Indonesia is not the world’s cheapest country for smokers—that honor goes to Vietnam—but it is in the lowest percentile.

    My new friend William at Glory Vapes confessed that he was a dual user, and because vaping was so much cheaper (even at those insanely low cigarette prices), he was able to make his disposables last up to three weeks. Add in his love for all the fruit flavors, and he remains biased toward the liquids, so he smokes cigarettes only when socializing with friends.

    He also shared that local police officers regularly visit the shop, but he suspected they came in more to alleviate boredom than to look for anything illegal.

    Norm Bour is the founder of VapeMentors and works with vape businesses worldwide. He can be reached at norm@VapeMentors.com.

  • Australia Extends Graphic Warnings to Vape Devices

    Australia Extends Graphic Warnings to Vape Devices

    Potential new graphic health warnings as envisioned by Australia’s Department of Health and Aged Care

    Australia will extend the requirement for manufacturers to print graphic health warnings on tobacco products to e-cigarettes, according to reports by CityNews and News. Manufacturers have until April 1, 2024, to roll out “repulsive” new health warnings on cigarette and vape packets. Retailers will be given a further three months to update their stock as new warning labels are gradually rolled out.

    On Dec. 7, the country’s federal parliament passed a law with measures to discourage smoking and vaping. Among other provisions, the legislation updates the health warnings on cigarette packages, standardizes the design and appearance of cigarette filters and applies tobacco advertising restrictions to vapor products.

    Earlier, Australia had announced a ban on single-use vapes that will take effect at the start of 2024. Starting in March, it will also be illegal to import or supply vapes that don’t comply with standards from the medical regulator. Doctors and nurses would still be able to prescribe therapeutic vapes as a tool to help smokers quit.

    Health Minister Mark Butler said the new smoking laws would save lives.

    “Tobacco has caused immeasurable harm and cost us countless lives in this country,” he told parliament. “We can’t stand by and allow another generation of people to be lured into addiction and suffer the enormous health, economic and social consequences.”

    About 20 percent of Australian 18-year-olds to 24-year-olds vape while about one in seven 14-year-olds to 17-year-olds use the product.

  • Australia to Ban Single-Use Vape Imports From 2024

    Australia to Ban Single-Use Vape Imports From 2024

    Credit: Yavdat

    Australia will ban imports of disposable vapes beginning January 1, the Health Minister said on Tuesday. It is the first step in a crackdown aimed at curbing the growing popularity of nicotine-filled vaping devices with young people.

    The ban will be expanded in March to include all non-therapeutic vapes, including refillable devices, while importers of vapes for medical purposes will need permit from the Office of Drug control, Health Minister Mark Butler said in a statement, according to Reuters.

    The legislative package will also include a total A$75 million in extra funding for the Australian Border Force and the Therapeutic Goods Administration to enforce the new rules.

    Additional legislation next year will apply the same prohibitions to domestic manufacturers.

    “These are the vapes that have pink unicorns on them, bubblegum flavouring, disguised in order for them to hide them in their pencil cases,” Butler told a news conference.

    To ensure the bans don’t limit access for smokers looking to quit, doctors and nurses will be given expanded powers in January to prescribe therapeutic vapes where clinically appropriate.

    But therapeutic vapes will be restricted from using flavors, have limited nicotine levels and be sold in pharmaceutical packaging under new rules to be introduced next year, with a transition period for manufacturers to comply.