With three tobacco shops in the Lane Cove Village Area, vaping is something that local parents are concerned about (one tobacco shop closed in 2023). The stores sell recreational disposable vapes.
Lane Cove Council has no control over the types of stores that open in Lane Cove Village (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.
Ban on Importation of Disposable Single Use Vapes
Today (1 January 2024) marks the commencement of the first stage of the Federal Government’s vaping reforms: the ban on importation of disposable single-use vapes.
These changes aim to protect Australians, particularly young people, from the harms of vaping and nicotine dependence, while ensuring those with a legitimate need to access therapeutic vapes can continue to do so, where clinically appropriate.
The latest data, from the Australian Secondary Schools Alcohol and Drug survey shows that about one in eight 12- to 15-year-olds and one in five 16- to 17-year-olds had vaped in the past month.
Approximately 80 per cent of these young people were using disposable vaping devices. Nearly one-third of students tried vaping for the first time when they were aged 15 or 16, while 23 per cent of students reported being 12 years or younger.
This is the first step, the second step is to ban the retail sale of vaping products, regardless of their claimed nicotine content.
The manufacture, supply, advertising and commercial possession of non-prescription vapes will be banned.
The second step cannot be implemented until the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 is amended. At this stage, an implementation date has not been announced. Will this mean that the tobacco/convenience stores will struggle? It will be interesting to see if vapes have been their best seller.
Will This Ban Impact the Three Tobacco Stores/Convenience Stores in Lane Cove?
It will be interesting to see if this ban will impact the three convenience stores/tobacco stores in Lane Cove Village. One store (located near Harris Farm) only sells tobacco products. However, the other two stores on Longueville Road sell tobacco and some convenience items. Convenience in the Cove, a long-standing convenience store that sold a large mix of convenience items, has recently closed. The increase in convenience stores/tobacco stores has occurred during the same time as the increase in vaping. Will these stores be able to survive just selling convenience items and other tobacco products or is their revenue tied to vaping sales?
Easier Access to Therapeutic Vaping Products
From today, every doctor and nurse practitioner will be able to prescribe therapeutic vaping products, where clinically appropriate, with the commencement of a new Special Access Scheme pathway.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) is undertaking a comprehensive review of the Supporting smoking cessation: A guide for health professionals to ensure it is up-to-date and in line with best practice.
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said:
“Vaping is creating a whole new generation of nicotine dependency in our community, especially amongst young Australians.
“The Albanese Government is taking world leading action to stamp out vaping – to protect a new generation of kids form getting hooked on nicotine.
“If you vape, this New Years make it your resolution to quit.
“This is just the first chapter of the government’s vaping reform, the supply of vapes coming into Australia will gradually dry up over the course of 2024, for this reason we strongly encourage all recreational vapers to begin their journey of cessation.”
Earlier this year 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.
In 2023, Local retailers told ITC that they regularly see members of the public using bins in the Lane Cove Village area to dispose of vapes.
Background
The new laws are consistent with research by 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 the 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.”
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 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; 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:
| MAYORAL MINUTE – TAKING ACTION AGAINST THE SALE OF VAPING AND E-CIGARETTE PRODUCTS TO CHILDREN AND TEENAGERS UNDER 18 YEARS OF AGE | |
| 40 | RESOLVED on the motion moved by Councillor Zbik and seconded by Councillor Kennedy that Council:-
1. Write to NSW Health and the Health Minister requesting assistance with local enforcement of the sale of vaping products to minors and conduct a review on the licensing regime for the sale of tobacco and other related products; 2. Promote on its social media channels the importance of contacting Crimestoppers if there is a suspected sale of vaping products to minors; and 3. Amend all smoke free Lane Cove signage to include vaping products and share educational material on Council’s website and social channels to ensure locals are aware that vaping products are prohibited in smoke free areas. |
| For the Motion were Councillors Zbik, Southwood, Roenfeldt, Kennedy, Flood, Bryla and Bennison (Total 7).
Against the Motion was Nil (Total 0). |
|
Since this resolution, the social media campaign has been three Facebook posts on April 26 2023, May 1 2023 and May 7 2023, about selling vapes to minors. Is Lane Cove Council doing enough?
Local and Free News – How is it funded?
You can support us in three ways:
- Become an ITC reader sponsor – Feel free to sponsor if you have enjoyed our local news coverage and would like to be an ITC reader sponsor. You can sponsor us with a monthly sponsorship fee. We have reader sponsors who sponsor us for $5.00 a month and some who sponsor us for $100 a year – no amount is too small or too big. Thank you so much to those who supported us via our press Patreon account. Help Us Here.
- Buy the ITC team a coffee – We now have a team, and they need to be paid – buy the ITC team a coffee (or two) that will help us pay their wages and shout then a coffee. Buy a Coffee here.
- If you own a Lane Cove Business or a Lane Cove resident who owns a business, you can advertise with ITC – our packages start from a $35 monthly fee (for a 12-month commitment). Please email us here for our rates card.
