Australians support calls for tougher vaping laws

The vast majority of Australians want tougher laws to crack down on the supply and sale of illegal vapes, a new report has found.

Australians want urgent action to stop an escalating e-cigarette crisis, saying existing laws are being disregarded and must be toughened to end the supply and sale of illegal “vapes”.

New data shows nine in 10 people support government action in the hope it can stop a new generation of Australians becoming addicted to nicotine. The majority also want a ban on vaping on public transport, in pubs, restaurants and other indoor venues.

The report follows recent submissions to the Therapeutic Goods Administration on proposed reforms to the regulation of nicotine vaping products in Australia in which Cancer Councils called for immediate action.

In the report by Cancer Council Victoria’s Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer (CBRC), the authors found that poor enforcement of laws had allowed e-cigarette products to be illegally imported, transported, stored and sold in breach of federal, state and territory laws.

In Victoria it is illegal for e-cigarettes – also known as vapes – to be sold to anyone under the age of 18. By law, vapes containing nicotine can only be sold to adult smokers with a prescription by a registered pharmacy.

The Cancer Council wants immediate action to tackle the vaping crisis.

The authors said that given widespread access to “vaping” products, it was likely that many adults were unaware of the legal status of e-cigarette purchasing within Australia.

Libby Jardine, the chair of the Cancer Council’s Tobacco Issues Committee, said in a statement that the report sends a strong signal to government that most people across the country recognise this escalating public health crisis and want government action before it is too late.

Ms Jardine says that while there are laws to protect Australians from the many immediate and future health impacts of vaping, they are being blatantly disregarded.

“This tsunami of illegal products being imported, stored in warehouses, sold in shops, marketed online and supplied to young people without detection, can be stopped,” she said.

The report found laws to protect Australians from the health impacts of vaping are being blatantly disregarded. Picture: Toby Zerna

“The longer we wait to enforce and strengthen existing laws, the more people – especially young people – we’ll see experiencing nicotine addiction, poisoning, seizures, burns and lung injury.

“We can stop this, but only if all Australian governments step up now.”

Last Thursday the Herald Sun revealed primary and secondary schools across the state were reporting dozens of shocking incidents involving vapes, with some children ending up in hospital.

The authors of this latest report say the use of e-cigarettes has increased substantially over recent years in Australia, with high levels of use among people who have never smoked tobacco, particularly young people.

The Cancer Council is urging all Australian governments to ‘step up now’ and act on vapes. Picture: Tim Hunter.

Commissioned by Cancer Council Australia and Quit, it found more Australians now recognise the health harms of e-cigarettes, and that 83 per cent of young adults recognise vaping is highly addictive.

It also found Australians considered e-cigarettes should:

• Be carefully regulated (87%)

• Not be promoted or marketed through social and digital media (84%)

• Not advertised in and around shops (82%)

• Not be allowed on public transport, in pubs, restaurants, or other indoor venues (87%)

Teenagers or young people wanting help to quit vaping can have a confidential, live chat with a Quitline counsellor at quit.org.au or for anyone wanting information, call 13 78 48 for free advice.