Australia is taking the first step in ending recreational vaping by banning the import of disposable vapes staring January 1, to be followed by a slew of additional regulations that will also extend to therapeutic vapes. Photo credit: TBEC Review, CC 2.0.
Health minister Mark Butler announced Australia will ban imports of disposable vapes starting January 1, 2024. Then, in March, the ban will be extended to include all non-therapeutic vapes, including refillable devices, while importers of vapes for medical purposes will need a permit from the Office of Drug Control.
Butler stated that the ban on single-use vapes is intended to reverse a "disturbing" rise in youth vaping.
Although Australia originally announced the import ban in May, a commencement date was not given till now. Additionally, laws prohibiting the manufacture, distribution, advertising, or supply of disposable vapes in Australia will be introduced next year.
In January, doctors and nurses will have more authority to prescribe therapeutic vapes “where clinically appropriate,” to make sure that the bans do not limit access to vapes for smokers who are looking to quit smoking.
However, new regulations that will be implemented next year will prohibit the use of flavors in therapeutic vapes, limit the amount of nicotine they can contain, and require them to be sold in pharmaceutical packaging. Manufacturers will have a transition period to comply.
According to authorities, the new restrictions that forbid retail stores from selling vapes are not intended to specifically target vape consumers. Butler stated on a local radio program that the prohibitions will “focus on vendors, not on people, not on customers, certainly not on kids.”
“I want to be really clear that we’re going after the vendors,” he said. “Those are the ones, I think, as well as the importers, who have created this problem, not the customers themselves, certainly not young people.”