Shock new data shows just 1 per cent of pharmacies stock vapes

Vapers are being forced to buy their e-cigarettes on the black market, with only a tiny percentage of pharmacies stocking the legal products.

Just 1 per cent of Australian pharmacists are stocking government-approved vapes for walk-in customers, in a concerning sign that people are still relying on the black market for e-cigarettes — despite the Albanese government moving to regulate the industry.

A nationwide survey of 305 pharmacies has found that just four were stocking the legislated S3 vapes, while another six had them available for order upon request.

The survey, commissioned by smoking cessation expert Dr Colin Mendelsohn, spoke to pharmacies across both regional areas and capital cities in the first two weeks of October, after the new regulations were brought in on October 1.

Capital cities fared better for access to legal e-cigarettes — most of the very few pharmacies stocking the product were in capital cities.

The Albanese government’s vaping regulation plan has hit multiple speed bumps after the Pharmacy Guild of Australia panned the scheme for treating chemists like tobacconists. “(The) expectation that community pharmacies become vape retailers, and vape garbage collectors, is insulting,” the guild said in response to the bill to regulate vapes.

A plan to regulate the vapes industry is faltering. Picture: Richard Dobson

Dr Mendelsohn said while some e-cigarette smokers were returning to traditional cigarettes, most were relying on the black market for vapes.

“Some vapers are returning to smoking but most will continue to access unregulated products from the black market,” he said. “The black market has fuelled increasing criminal activity and is the main cause of the increase in youth vaping.

Health Minister Mark Butler defended the new laws. Picture: Martin Ollman

“The only way to stop a black market is to replace it with a legal, regulated one.

“Vapes should be sold as adult consumer products from licensed retail outlets with strict age verification, like cigarettes and alcohol, as they are in other Western countries.”

Online website Liber lists pharmacies across Australia who sell the vapes and shows availability across the country, but there was no data on the total percentage of pharmacies stocking the product.

It comes as convenience stores continue to lobby to be allowed to sell government-approved vapes.

Australian Convenience Stores Association chief executive Theo Foukkare said the policy was failing.

Associate Professor Colin Mendelsohn found only 1 per cent of pharmacies are stocking approved vapes for walk-in customers. Picture: John Appleyard

“The Health Minister’s latest policy-on-the-run pharmacy-only model has been exposed as an utter failure,” he said.

“The only thing that has changed is the rapid escalation of the black market violence we are witnessing in our communities and the price of these dodgy vapes has gone up from about $30 to $60, making these criminals even richer.

“On this issue, the Albanese government is completely out of touch with reality.”

The government is working with the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, which spoke to 2000 pharmacists recently on the new reforms.

More face-to-face and online workshops with the industry are also planned, but it’s ultimately up to the chemist to decide if they wish to stock vapes.

“Australia’s vaping laws have been developed in close co-operation with all states and territories and ensure that the only vapes that can be legally sold are therapeutic products that meet rigorous TGA standards and are supplied in a pharmacy setting, after a conversation with a highly-trained health professional,” Health Minister Mark Butler said.

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Originally published as Shock new data shows just 1 per cent of pharmacies stock vapes