Vape ban laws to go before parliament

Legislation for a world-first ban on disposable vapes is set to pass federal parliament’s lower house within weeks as public health bodies urge politicians to heed their warnings on what they say are the catastrophic health dangers of e-cigarettes.

Legislation for a world-first ban on disposable vapes is set to pass federal parliament’s lower house within weeks, as public health bodies urge politicians to heed their warnings on what they say are the catastrophic health dangers of e-cigarettes.

Health Minister Mark Butler will on Thursday introduce the final tranche of sweeping laws that ban the importation, manufacture, supply, and commercial possession of disposable single use and non-therapeutic vapes amid a massive proliferation of the products via the black market.

The vaping reforms bill preserves legitimate patient access to therapeutic vapes that are scripted by doctors and distributed by pharmacies in the context of smoking cessation and the management of nicotine dependence.

Public health bodies have given their strong support to the tough laws, but some parliamentarians and experts are concerned that a prohibitionist policy will further fuel the illicit trade that is operating from a huge number of pop-up convenience stores and tobacco shops. There are concerns that many vapers will shun the prescription model and continue to access more dangerous illicit vapes on the black market, which law enforcement experts say is now so large it is unlikely to be able to be controlled.

The import of disposable single use and non-therapeutic vapes was banned on January 1. Since then, the Australian Border Force and the Therapeutic Goods Administration have seized more than 360,000 vapes worth almost $11m, but it is only a tiny fraction of the hundreds of millions of vapes coming across the border that are still being freely sold in convenience stores.

The black market trade has been associated with widespread serious crime including extortion and firebombings of shopfronts.

Public health groups are strongly in support of banning disposable vapes and pursuing a therapeutic nicotine cessation strategy – something no other country has attempted.

Mr Butler remains adamant the world-first policy is the right way to go. “The only groups who want to regulate and sell vaping products are those who profit once kids get hooked on nicotine – Big Tobacco and tobacco retailers,” he said. “Vaping is not a safer alternative to cigarettes. It is a furphy pushed by Big Tobacco.”

Lung Foundation chair Lucy Morgan described the introduction of the legislation as “a pivotal moment in protecting a whole generation from needless disease and death”.

“These reforms will put a firm end date on the sale of illegal e-cigarettes from street kiosks and corner stores and keep deadly poison out of the lungs of our young people,” Professor Morgan said. “As a respiratory clinician, I am extremely supportive of these reforms. They save thousands of Australian lives.”

The Cancer Council’s Tobacco Issues Committee chair Alecia Brooks urged all MPs and senators to vote in support of the government’s vaping bill.

The opposition is currently debating its position on the policy and has expressed doubts about a prohibitionist approach, as have the Greens.