Vape ‘reforms’ have a long way to go

Nobody said it would be easy. Vapes and e-cigarettes have hit cities the world over like an unstoppable avalanche.

They are widely sold and distributed, and inhaled in playgrounds, at railway stations and on the streets. Users hooked on the tropical flavours and neon-coloured packaging have, for years now, breathed in toxic puffs of hazelnut, apple or lemon ice with little regard for the long-term effects on their health.

The products have all the alluring hallmarks of candy but are laced with addictive nicotine, making them wildly popular among children and teenagers who are too young to truly grasp the consequences of the untested products on their lungs.

Regulating the proliferation of these products presents a colossal public health challenge to authorities around the globe. After decades of successfully educating the public about tobacco’s deathly risks, health authorities have found themselves back at square one, battling big tobacco and the production of sleek smoking devices on the black market.

The Albanese government deserves some praise for attempting to introduce the world’s strictest vape policy. The start of tough penalties for unlicensed shops selling illegal vapes marks the first time a country has banned the sale of vapes outside of pharmacies.

Labor’s original requirement – that users obtain a prescription for vapes – has been watered down because of amendments agreed with the Greens. So, anyone aged over 18 can buy one of three basic-flavoured, plainly packaged vapes at a chemist without a prescription.

This still represents a positive step forward. But with more than a million Australians using disposable vapes and becoming addicted to them over several years, the policing of these products presents a mighty challenge. It is cause for concern, then, that governments have no realistic plan to enforce their ambitious reforms.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration has not issued a single fine or charge to any retailer or distributor since the federal government’s ban came into effect on July 1.

State-based health regulators have been unable to launch inspections, allegedly due to a TGA oversight, while state and federal authorities fight and blame each other over which agencies are responsible for the ban’s implementation.

Instead of passing a law with no enforcement mechanism to punish those who flagrantly violate it, the government should have allowed for an implementation period to build up an enforcement capacity. Failing to do this has made a mockery of its “world-leading” laws.

No doubt the best and most effective way to crack down on vapes is to police their importation. This will effectively be the only way to regulate the products until politicians and health officials work out how to deter retailers with fines and criminal charges. That solution must involve serious funding from the federal government, given its decision to create a new zone for policing.

Meanwhile, retailers will have little incentive to stop selling vapes in violation of the law, and the Albanese government’s ambitious “reforms” will, in fact, change nothing.

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