The only legal nicotine vape products in Australia are unflavoured or menthol products purchased from a pharmacy. From 1 July 2024 (if legislation passes) a prescription will no longer be required for people 18 and over, and they will be accessible to people under 18 with a prescription.
This may come as a surprise, given how readily available and popular they are within the community, but the government is now cracking down on suppliers and sellers of these products banning all disposable vapes.
There is significant concern that health warnings struggle to hold any weight with people because of how easy it is to get your hands on one – which makes sense, if they were so bad for you wouldn’t they be harder to get?
What's the problem with vapes?
While vapes or e-cigarettes were supposedly created as a way to help people quit smoking, companies that sell them have long raised concerns that they are marketing directly to young people, and due to the significant amount of nicotine in them (even compared to cigarettes) you can develop a dependency pretty quickly.
It’s also worth noting that young people who vape are around three times more likely to take up smoking cigarettes.
While vaping may lessen some of the risks associated with smoking, it really hasn’t been around for long enough to gauge the long-term impacts, and there are also concerns about the high levels of nicotine in these products given the impacts the chemical has on developing brains.
Additionally, because the vaping products people are buying are illegal they’re not using regulated products. It’s one thing to look at the health benefits of a regulated smoking alternative, but when they haven’t been subject to any testing or even list ingredients properly there’s no way to tell whether any particular product is safe.
This doesn’t just concern the amount of nicotine, but ingredients used for things like flavouring can also be unsafe to inhale. For example, the chemical used to flavour cinnamon vapes called trans-cinnamaldehyde is actually banned in all vape and e-ciggarette liquids in Australia because it damages the cells your lungs’ ability to fight off infection.
So why are they here at all?
It all comes back to border control.
Previous attempts to enforce bans have fallen short because suppliers were able to find a loophole to get them into Australia: with only nicotine vapes banned, disposable vapes started being labelled as containing no nicotine or being nicotine free to bypass regulations.
It’s difficult to determine if they’re labelled correctly, particularly with nicotine because without testing the product there’s no real way to tell if it is or isn’t present.
What’s changing?
The government is primarily cracking down on these products getting through the country’s borders and the people then selling them to consumers. In order to do that all disposable vapes are banned, including those that ‘don’t’ contain nicotine to close the loophole being exploited.
In Adelaide alone this year hundreds of thousands of vapes have been seized by the Australian Border Force. SA Health and other bodies have also been running busts on shopfronts distributing these products under the counter.
Given people are still easily accessing vapes, at least for now this is going to be a long process. There are more reforms lined up, but these companies have found loopholes before, so how effective they will be is yet to be seen.
From 1 March 2024…
Extensions to vape and smoke-free zones in public come into force from the first of March 2024. These changes are aimed at protecting people from passive exposure to smoke and vape exhalant and on the spot fines will apply.
The following are now smoke-free and vape-free outdoor areas:
Within early childhood services premises, and education and children’s services facilities (including schools), and within 10 metres of their boundaries.
At and within 10 metres of non-residential building entrances, such as entrances to shopping centres, government and commercial buildings.
Within public hospitals, public health facilities, private hospitals and residential aged care facilities, and within 10 metres of their boundaries.
At outdoor swimming facilities.
Within major event venues declared under the Major Events Act 2013.
At and within 10 metres of a sporting venue during an organised underage sporting event or training or practice session in preparation for an organised underage sporting event.
On beaches between, and within 50 metres of, red and yellow patrol flags, and at and within five metres of any part of jetties (including under jetties).
You can find these guidelines here.
Want to know more?
Watch:
@uncloud.vaping (Tik Tok)
What do we know about the effects of vaping and is it safe? (8:57) – ABC News
The fierce battle over vaping in Australia (46:13) – Four Corners
Listen:
Part 1: What is actually in a vape? Understanding Vaping (18:30) – The Daily Aus
Part 2: How illegal are vapes? Understanding Vaping (18:12) – The Daily Aus
Read:
Cigarettes and The Law (The Law and Young People Factsheets) – Legal Services Commission South Australia
Soon you’ll only be able to buy vapes with a prescription – The Post (Supported by the SA Government)
Need support?
Resources for quitting here.
Download the quitSTART app.
Try SmokefreeTXT by signing up online or texting QUIT to 47848.
