Vapes are legal again - but pharmacies allowed to sell them aren’t celebrating yet

Vapes can now be sold legally in pharmacies to people without prescriptions, but three months after they were banned from sale in shops, many pharmacists are wary about stocking the anti-smoking products.

Pharmacists were given the green light on Tuesday to sell nicotine vapes but many are holding back on ethical grounds or believe it is too onerous to follow guidelines for their sale.

Pharmacists are now able to sell vapes as an anti-smoking aid to customers, without a prescription.Credit: Wolter Peeters

Of the 60 pharmacies contacted by this masthead, a majority indicated they were either unsure or opposed to selling vapes. Others said they would stock vapes depending on demand.

Since July this year, vapes have been illegal except for those with a prescription. From Tuesday, October 1, pharmacists can sell vapes with a nicotine concentration of 20mg/ml or less to adults. Patients no longer require a prescription but must be approved by the pharmacist.

The Pharmacy Guild of Australia has strongly opposed the non-prescription model, especially as no products have yet been approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

A TGA spokesperson said pharmacies could legally supply unapproved vape products, but must notify the TGA and comply with strict conditions and product standards.

Richard Lee, chief executive of vape supplier Liber, said about 3000 of the country’s 5500 pharmacies had stocked the company’s products under the prescription model, but did not know how many would stock them under the new system.

“With the new framework, there are lots of new obligations on pharmacies,” he said.

Sydney-based Adore Pharmacy owner Adele Tahan, who is also on the national council of the Pharmacy Guild, said she would not stock vapes in her pharmacy.

“I can’t provide them with confidence because they have harmful substances in them,” she said. “I’m not going to stock them because I’m concerned about the wellbeing of patients.”

Several pharmacists contacted by this masthead said they were unsure about whether to stock vapes because of unclear guidelines, time required to train team members, and uncertainty around how much demand there was for the products.

However, Melbourne-based MediGreen consultant pharmacist Sharon Miller said now the system was in place at her store, it only took 10 to 15 minutes to assess customers and provide smoking cessation products.

“We’re still having to come to terms with the complexity around regulations and guidelines. It is time-consuming to get the system into place, and you’d probably need a person dedicated to it,” she said on Tuesday.

Wilhelm David, chief executive of vape manufacturer FTF Pharmaceutical, said by the end of the month about 600 to 800 pharmacies would stock the company’s therapeutic vapes.

David said his company’s products were similarly priced to illegal vapes. A reusable device costs between $20 and $25, he said, with a “pod”, which has an equivalent nicotine dosage to a packet of cigarettes, costing about $7.50 each.

The Department of Health estimates black market vapes cost about $30 each, but this masthead found illegal disposable vapes often sold for between $40 and $60.

West Australian pharmacists face additional uncertainty as the state government is drafting legislation to implement a prescription-only approach.

WA health minister Amber-Jade Sanderson, who said the sale of vapes will continue to be illegal in WA without a prescription, said she had “listened to the community and pharmacists who have told us they don’t want vapes to be available over the counter at chemists.”

Butler said it was a matter for each state or territory to determine whether they introduce any additional measures on top of federal regulations.

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