Health Minister gives into backbench pressure on vaping ban

AACS has long lobbied for the right for consumers to have access to vaping products should they so choose and responsible retailers such as Convenience Stores to be able to sell them, subject to proper regulations. We are pleased that the government has taken note of our and other concerns on this matter and will review their policy on vaping.

Health Minister gives into backbench pressure on vaping ban

By Dana McCauley and Rob Harris

June 26, 2020

The Age

Health Minister Greg Hunt has delayed plans to impose a $200,000 fine on Australians who import liquid nicotine and will review the government’s policy on smokers who use vaping to give up cigarettes after a backbench revolt.

The ban, which the Therapeutic Goods Administration last week announced would begin on July 1, will now be delayed for six months while the regulator conducts a formal review and consultation “regarding the classification of nicotine in the Poisons Standard,” Mr Hunt said on Friday.

It comes after 28 Coalition MPs – including Queensland senator Matt Canavan, Liberal MP Tim Wilson and former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce – signed a letter condemning the restrictions and warning the ban could drive vapers “back to the more unhealthy habit of smoking”.

Several MPs who signed the letter told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age they were incensed at the timing of the TGA announcement, which came at the end of a sitting week and was not put to the Coalition party room.

Mr Hunt said Australia’s medical experts, including the Chief Health Officer, had “warned of the health dangers of e-cigarettes” and there was “strong evidence around the world of non-smokers being introduced to nicotine through vaping”.

Restricting e-cigarettes to those who imported them with a doctor’s prescription – a process hampered by the reluctance of many GPs to prescribe liquid nicotine, and a requirement to seek a special exemption for each patient – aimed to prevent the introduction of non-smokers to nicotine via vaping, Mr Hunt said.

However, he said the government would delay the changes “in order to assist … people who have been using these e-cigarettes with nicotine as a means to ending their cigarette smoking” and establish “a streamlined process for patients obtaining prescriptions through their GP”.

“This will give patients time to talk with the GP, discuss the best way to give up smoking, such as using other products including patches or sprays, and if still required, will be able to gain a prescription,” Mr Hunt said.

“People should always be consulting their GP on these health matters and ensuring this is the right product for them.”

Legalise Vaping Policy Director Emilie Dye welcomed the announcement as “a big win for vapers across Australia.”

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners supports the use of nicotine-containing e-cigarettes for smoking cessation, but only if other methods such as patches and gums have been tried first.

The Victorian Poisons Centre reported a near doubling of nicotine poisons between 2018 (21 cases) and 2019 (41 cases), mostly through imported products. A Victorian toddler died from nicotine poisoning in July 2018.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison told 2GB on Friday morning that he would keep an open mind on the issue, but that his government was committed to encouraging people “not to smoke”.

“Nicotine replacement therapies like sprays, patches, lozenges, chews, they’re all available and they don’t require a prescription,” the Prime Minister said.

“We obviously support and encourage people not to smoke and we’ve got many policies and other supports in place to support them.”