Australia is about to ban the importation of most vapes, introduce plain packaging and strip them from comfort retailer cabinets underneath world-first reforms.
The greatest crackdown on e-cigarettes in Australian historical past is about to be unveiled within the May funds amid fears vaping has emerged as a severe behavioural disaster in faculties throughout the nation.
Under present legal guidelines vapes with nicotine can solely be purchased with a prescription from a chemist.
But that hasn’t stopped 1000’s of comfort shops and on-line suppliers promoting to children.
Health Minister Mark Butler will unveil the modifications on Tuesday underneath a crackdown that can even contain the states and territories transferring to stamp out the rising black market in unlawful vaping.
The modifications will embody robust new legal guidelines to:
– Stop the import of non-prescription vapes
– Increase the minimal high quality requirements for vapes together with by limiting flavours, colors, and different elements;
– Require pharmaceutical-like packaging;
– Reduce the allowed nicotine concentrations and volumes; and
– Ban all single use, disposable vapes.
But the reforms gained’t cease there, with the Albanese Government getting ready to work with states and territories to shut down the sale of vapes in retail settings, ending vape gross sales in comfort shops and different retail settings.
Vapes inflicting ‘behavioural issues’ in faculties
Health consultants concern the rise of vapes poses a public well being disaster with youngsters who vape thrice as prone to take up smoking.
Experts declare 1000’s of kids can not sit nonetheless in school as a result of they’re hooked on vaping after smoking “bubblegum” flavours that secretly comprise nicotine.
Health Minister Mark Butler mentioned it was clear that governments needed to act.
“Vaping was sold to governments and communities around the world as a therapeutic product to help long-term smokers quit,‘’ he said.
“It was not sold as a recreational product – especially not one for our kids. But that is what it has become: the biggest loophole in Australian history.
“One in six teenagers aged 14-17 has vaped. One in four people aged 18-24 has vaped. By contrast, only one in 70 people my age has vaped.
“And when more than a thousand teenagers aged 15 to 17 were asked where they could get vapes, four out of five of them said they found it easy or somewhat easy to buy them in retail stores.
“This is a product targeted at our kids, sold alongside lollies and chocolate bars.”
Mr Butler mentioned faculties weren’t struggling to cope with the fallout.
“Vaping has become the number one behavioural issue in high schools. And it’s becoming widespread in primary schools,” he mentioned.
“Over the past 12 months, Victoria’s poisons hotline has taken 50 calls about children under 4 becoming sick from ingesting or using a vape.
“Under the age of 4! Vapes contain 200 toxic chemicals that do not belong in the lungs, the same chemicals you’ll find in nail polish remover and weed killer.
“Just like they did with smoking, Big Tobacco has taken another addictive product, wrapped it in shiny packaging and added flavours to create a new generation of nicotine addicts.
“Vapers are three times as likely to take up smoking, which explains why under 25s are the only cohort in the community currently recording an increase in smoking rates.
“This must end.”
Vape police
Vape police could possibly be rolled out to observe the sale of e-cigarettes to youngsters throughout Australia together with on TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram underneath a plan that may ban most imports and introduce plain packaging.
VicHealth CEO Sandro Demaio, a globally-renowned public well being knowledgeable and medical physician, informed news.com.au that as quickly because the Albanese Government launched new import bans enforcement could possibly be a lot more durable at a state stage.
“In many ways this explosion of vaping has really come out of nowhere over just a couple of years,’’ he said.
“But the reverse is also possible if we ban the advertising of vapes and actually clamp down on the use of social media to promote these products.
“If we make them less alluring, so they don’t they don’t come in Froot Loops flavour and look like a highlighter. They don’t have unicorns on the side. That will make them far less appealing.
“And basically cut off the tap at the border. Those things will absolutely make a huge difference.”
Dr Demaio mentioned that introducing plain packaging was essential as a result of that might then permit enforcement to swing into motion.
“Obviously, we want to close the access and the huge amount of vapes that have been finding their way into the hands of particularly young people,’’ he said.
“So what needs to happen at the state level is that there needs to be a licensing scheme in every state.
“The licences themselves would create revenue, which can support enforcement officers, so we’re not relying on police to enforce the measures that we currently have.
“In theory, they’re not currently subject to the laws because they don’t contain nicotine. But the vast majority do contain nicotine; they’re just simply not putting in all the packets.
“And really, what needs to be done is to say, ‘Well, if there’s no flavours, no colours and the only pathway through a prescription, and they, they, they have pharmaceutical packaging, it then makes it much easier for the states to actually enforce it.”
He warned youngsters have been being “viciously” exploited.
“Well, what’s happened over the last few years is that the tobacco industry and the e-cigarette industry, of which there’s huge overlap, has seen an opportunity to, you know, get another entire generation of Australians addicted to nicotine with a new product. That’s flown under the radar,’’ he said.
“This industry has used young people’s social media. These things are all over social media. You can jump on Tik Tok and there are ads for E cigarettes with a ‘Buy Now’ button.
“Social media is under-regulated in this country. They have flooded the market with really cheap imports from overseas that don’t declare that they contain nicotine.
“And it’s been a combination of social media, weaponising their data on social media and flooding the market with really cheap and highly addictive imports.”
Originally revealed as Australian Government publicizes crackdown on unlawful black market vapes
Source: www.dailytelegraph.com.au
