By Steven Mew, the Australian Science Media Centre
Changes to the Vaping Reforms Bill may be a 'missed opportunity' according to Aussie experts, but not all agree on the direction we should be taking on vaping legislation.
The Vaping Reforms Bill 2024 will make vapes illegal for sale outside of pharmacies, and will require people to have a prescription from their doctor from July 1. However, amendments to the bill, added to secure the support of the Greens, will mean that from October 1 pharmacies will be able to sell vapes containing nicotine to anyone over the age of 18 without a medical prescription.
Professor Simone Pettigrew from the George Institute for Global Health said the changes to the bill represent a 'missed opportunity'.
"The watered-down policy will still be important to reduce underage access to e-cigarettes, and the Albanese Government is to be congratulated on taking long overdue action on this issue," she told an AusSMC Expert Reaction.
"However, the change forced by the Greens will weaken the laws, pushing the problem down the line when further action will be needed to address high rates of nicotine addiction among young adults,"
"Our young people will be the ones to suffer the consequences."
Associate Professor Becky Freeman from the University of Sydney leads a study which tracks teenagers’ vaping behaviour, knowledge and attitudes, and she welcomed the closing of loopholes that made it easy for young people to access addictive and harmful vapes.
"This legislation means young people will no longer be able to readily purchase vaping products in the very same shops that sell sweets, ice cream, and soft drinks," she said.
But she too said it was disappointing that the amended law will allow vapes to be available as pharmacy-only medicines, instead of requiring users to have a prescription.
However, the new legislation was not welcomed by Dr Alex Wodak AM, a Board Director of the Australian Tobacco Harm Reduction Association, which received seed funding from 2017-2019 from e-cigarette companies. He said that it doesn't make sense to severely restrict vaping while cigarettes remain readily available.
"The primary policy aim has to be reducing smoking-related deaths as fast as possible."
Striking the balance between the prevention of youth uptake and the reduction of smoking harms via vaping is challenging, according to Associate Professor Emily Stockings from the Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use at the University of Sydney.
"The vaping ‘epidemic’ among young people has been driven by the ease of access to these products and their sheer abundance on the market."
"Even if young people can only access via prescription (when clinically appropriate), we already know that young people access vapes via older siblings or friends who on-sell them via social media platforms such as Snapchat. This new regulation will essentially allow the illicit supply of vapes to young people to continue," she said.
"We do appreciate that for an important minority of smokers access to vapes via pharmacies without the additional financial and logistical burden of a GP visit is a win."
"However, when accessing smoking cessation treatment, discussion with a trained health professional and provision of brief advice is the gold standard, and it remains to be seen if this is going to be feasible in busy community pharmacies."
You can read the full AusSMC Expert Reaction here.
This article originally appeared in Science Deadline, a weekly newsletter from the AusSMC. You are free to republish this story, in full, with appropriate credit.
Contact: Steven Mew
Phone: +61 8 7120 8666
Email: info@smc.org.au