Amount of nicotine in vapes to be slashed under new rules, Health Minister Mark Butler reveals

New measures are being put into place to help treat addicted teenagers impacted by a government crackdown on vaping.

Exclusive: The amount of nicotine allowed in vapes will be slashed under tough new rules that will ban the import of all e-cigarettes except pharmaceutical products used to quit smoking.

The new regime will be phased in from January and new supports are being developed to help thousands of teens expected to be in distress when they are unable to maintain their nicotine habit.

In an exclusive interview Health Minister Mark Butler said the new regulations to ban importation of disposable vapes will be introduced within weeks, along with a boost to the number of Border Force personnel to detect illegal imports.

The reforms will see local manufacture of non-pharmaceutical e-cigs banned, with increased fines and state police and enforcement officers to get new powers under Commonwealth legislation to crack down on retailers and importers.

Tough new vaping regulations will soon be introduced by the federal government. Picture: NCA Newswire /Gaye Gerard

Under the changes the TGA is considering slashing the upper limit of nicotine in pharmaceutical vapes, including one option to set it as low as 20 mg/ml, the limit set by the UK.

This is two thirds less than the 60mg /ml some manufacturers have packed into disposable vapes, and half the 40mg/ml in vapes used by many teens – the equivalent of 400 cigarettes or 16 packs per device, as revealed yesterday.

“The nicotine content will be lower than currently is the case. It was a subject of some discussion with scientists and with the TGA and it will be the level of nicotine you need to get a hardened smoker off cigarettes,” Mr Butler said.

Under the changes, which will be phased in next year, the import of all disposable vapes, the type most often used by teens and sold through retailers – will be banned.

The only vapes legally allowed into the country will be pharmaceutical products prescribed by a doctor and dispensed through a pharmacy to help people quit smoking.

Clinical guidelines are being developed to help doctors treat the thousands of addicted teenagers who may be adversely affected by the ban.

“Doctors will exercise their clinical judgement on whether a prescription is needed,” the minister said.

Watch Croz’s story of how he got hooked below:

Quit said it has already been treating vapers as young as 12 and had developed extra support for teenagers in advance of the law changes using channels such as Facebook Messenger, What’s App and text messaging that are more likely to be used by young people.

“Many people may not even realise they’ve been addicted to nicotine until the point when the e-cigarettes no longer become readily available,” Quit’s head of prevention Craig Sullivan said.

Those importing vaping products will require a TGA permit.

Pharmaceutical vapes will have to be sold in plain packaging, there will be no flavours or colours allowed and the ingredients will be strictly regulated.

Currently nicotine containing vapes are meant to be banned unless they are prescribed by a doctor, and can only be dispensed through a pharmacy, but non nicotine vapes are allowed.

Vaping retailers and manufacturers try to get around Australia’s vaping ban by pretending their products do not contain nicotine even though laboratory testing shows nine in 10 “non-nicotine” vapes do contain the substance.

Watch Aderline’s story of how she got addicted below:

Mr Butler said current laws involved a “ridiculous process of confiscating vapes and then sending them off to a lab to be tested, knowing what the test results are going to show, that is that there’s nicotine in them, in spite of the fact they’re not labelled that way”.

Under the new rules this testing won’t be necessary as the vapes will be banned outright.

Since 2021 vapes have to be prescribed by a doctor and around 74,192 patients access them this way.

A three month supply of vapes can also be accessed on prescription under the Personal Importation Scheme.

This access route will be restricted under the government’s new reforms.

If you need help to quit smoking or vaping contact Quit on 137848 quit.org.au.