Federal Health Minister Has Convenience Stores Vape Sales on the Agenda

With four tobacco shops in the Lane Cove Village Area, vaping is something that local parents are concerned about.  The stores sell recreational disposable vapes.

Lane Cove Council has no control over the types of stores that open in Lane Cove (as long as they fall within the description of commercial premises).

Before a retail store starts selling tobacco, non-tobacco smoking products or e-cigarettes, the Public Health (Tobacco) Act 2008 requires businesses to notify NSW Health by applying for a retailer identification number (RIN).  There are no other requirements.  This should be contrasted with obtaining a liquor licence where there is a strict licensing and enforcement regime.

Today (2 May 2023), Health Minister Mark Butler will deliver a speech to the National Press Club which will include details on Medicare Reform and a crackdown on vapes.  The aim is to remove vapes from convenience stores.

Non-prescription vapes will be banned from importation and Border Force will be responsible for stopping the vapes before they reach suppliers.  The Federal Government will need to work with state governments on policing the sale of vapes at the retail level.

At the same time, the Federal Government intends it makes it easier for those trying to quit smoking.  Doctors will be able to prescribe nicotine vapes without having to obtain approval from the Therapeutic Goods Association.

There will be new rules on packaging and nicotine vapes will only be sold in chemists. The vapes will be required to be sold in packaging that clearly labels them as a pharmaceutical product and certain colours, flavours and other ingredients will be banned.

This announcement was made on the same day that the Sydney Morning Herald reported:

“Vape detectors would be installed in the state’s public schools from July under a plan outlined in tender contracts seeking to secure 40,000 of the devices, which will also pick up students smoking THC in the toilets.

Education Minister Prue Car said the detectors were just one option being considered to combat the vaping crisis in high schools but that no final decision had been made.” Read the article here.

Lane Cove Council has also started an education campaign around Vaping.  This is a result of Mayor’s Andrew Zbik notice of motion passed at the Lane Cove Council’s March 2023 Meeting (see below in background).

Local retailers have told ITC that they regularly see members of the public disposable using bins in the Lane Cove Village area to dispose of vapes.  A single-use disposable vape will be banned.

Background

The planned laws are consistent with research by leading an Australian expert who called for the total banning of direct sales of vaping products.  In a paper published on 15 March 2023 Associate Professor Becky Freeman of the University of Sydney said predatory retailers, manufacturers and importers of vaping products have exploited loopholes in regulations to flood the market with illicit products that appeal to young people.

She called for all sales of vaping products, other than those prescribed by a doctor to aid in quitting smoking, to be stopped to curb skyrocketing uptake of e-cigarettes in young people.

In theory, Australia’s regulatory model should be effective in protecting young people from taking up vaping since a prescription from a medical practitioner is now required to access nicotine-containing products, which must only be used as an aid to quit smoking.

But in practice, Dr Freeman says manufacturers continue to import and sell vaping products that contain nicotine by simply failing to label them as containing nicotine or falsely claiming they are nicotine-free.

“Distinguishing between a legal non-nicotine vaping product and an illegal nicotine-containing device requires laboratory testing, which hamstrings effective enforcement of the regulations,” she writes.

“Stopping the importation of all vaping products into Australia, regardless of nicotine content, unless bound for a pharmacy, would simplify and increase the effectiveness of enforcement and stop the flood of illicit products. This would also end young people’s easy access to vaping products.”

A recent survey showed that about one-third of Australian teens aged 14-17 have vaped at some time, while previous research has found that vaping can cause harm such as poisoning, burns, addiction and lung injury.

Dr Freeman noted that Australia had fallen behind in tobacco control since the landmark plain packaging reforms of over a decade ago. Public health action has been understandably focused on the COVID-19 pandemic in recent years, which has led to stalled momentum in chronic disease prevention. Tobacco, alcohol, gambling and fast food industry players have been quick to seize the opportunity to exploit this lack of focus, she says.

“The Australian Government has been caught off guard by an aggressive industry that seeks to undo decades of effective tobacco control,” she writes.

The good news is that “after 10 years of minimal action”, new measures and initiatives are in the pipeline to reduce smoking, which remains the single most important preventable cause of ill health and death in Australia.

In November 2022, the Federal Government announced it would reignite the fight against tobacco addiction with a package of new measures. Although these have yet to be put to the Australian Parliament, they are expected to include updated graphic warnings on tobacco products; prevention of the use of additives such as flavours and menthol; and a requirement for tobacco companies to be transparent about their sales volumes, pricing, product ingredients and emissions, as well as their advertising, promotion and sponsorship activities.

A new National Tobacco Strategy with ambitious targets for reducing smoking rates was recently endorsed by health ministers, while the Therapeutic Goods Administration recently launched a consultation on potential reforms to prevent children and adolescents from accessing vaping products.

In December 2022 the Australian Medical Association called for:

“Stronger regulatory measures to curb the proliferation of recreational non-nicotine vaping products, which include but are not limited to:

• implementing similar regulation to tobacco products, such as health warnings, better labelling, plain packaging and tobacco licences
• a targeted federal response to monitor and act on illegal advertising and promotion of vaping products, particularly online and on social media
• better enforcement of existing state and territory regulation to help block illegal vape sales both online and through shopfronts.”

A study published in September 2022 in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health found:

“Non-nicotine vaping products sold at retail outlets in NSW have been tested and found to illegally contain nicotine;¹⁸ our study confirms young people readily acquire these products.”  Read the article here.

At the March 2023 Lane Cove Council Meeting the Lane Cove Council resolved:

At the Mosman Council’s March Meeting, the councillors resolved to:

“Council resolved to review its policy on the management of smoking in public places, last reviewed in 2007, to incorporate more contemporary practices including vape products and e-cigarettes. It was further resolved that the Mayor write to the State Government seeking a ban on the sale of all e-cigarettes except at designated pharmacies and by prescription only.”

Since October 2019 North Sydney Council has had a smoking ban in the North Sydney CBD that includes cigarettes and vaping.