Read articles from Australia

January 22, 2024 by mja.com.au

The Australian Minister for Health and Aged Care, Mark Butler, made a strong push to address the growing problem of youth vaping in his speech at the National Press Club in May 2023. While new approaches to controlling youth vaping are urgently needed, it is critical that policy reforms to end the tobacco cigarette epidemic are also pursued with equal vigour — otherwise we risk shifting people currently using vapes to tobacco smoking.

January 22, 2024 by youtube.com

Sky News contributor Joe Hildebrand has criticised the “most insane plan” requiring Australians to seek out prescriptions for nicotine vapes because it will “cripple” a stretched GP system and will make it easier for people to buy cigarettes.

January 19, 2024 by scoop.co.nz

In a controversial move that has left public health advocates and consumers in a cloud of disbelief, the Australian Government has decided to effectively ban vapes, a decision that flies in the face of harm reduction evidence and the rights of smokers seeking safer alternatives. “While the details of the new regulations are shrouded in smoke, reports suggest that Australians may now face up to $150 for a prescription to access vaping products,” said Nancy Loucas, a public health policy expert and passionate advocate for tobacco harm reduction and executive coordinator of CAPHRA.

January 17, 2024 by news.com.au

Millions of Aussies could now pay up to $150 for a single vape as they are forced to get a GP prescription under tough new rules. New data from the Health Department predicts about 450,000 people will need prescriptions for a nicotine vapes each year requiring almost one million additional visits to the doctor. The changes come under Australia’s total import ban on non-therapeutic and disposable single-use vapes which came into force on January 1.

January 17, 2024 by news.com.au

Millions of Aussies could now pay up to $150 for a single vape as they are forced to get a GP prescription under tough new rules. New data from the Health Department predicts about 450,000 people will need prescriptions for a nicotine vapes each year requiring almost one million additional visits to the doctor. The changes come under Australia’s total import ban on non-therapeutic and disposable single-use vapes which came into force on January 1.

January 17, 2024 by miragenews.com

ACT Greens spokesperson for Young People, Laura Nuttall MLA, has launched a new survey to better understand young people's vaping habits across the ACT and consider better access to support services. Miss Nuttall says federal reforms to e-cigarettes attempting to curb access to disposable vapes have come into place without proper consultation with young people, who are more likely to use vapes than older Canberrans.

January 08, 2024 by health.gov.au

There has never been a better time to quit vaping, as today marks the commencement of the first stage of the Albanese Government’s vaping reforms: the ban on importation of disposable single use vapes. These changes will 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.

January 04, 2024 by colinmendelsohn.com.au

TERRY BARNES IS A HARDENED PULIC HEALTH CONSULTANT and a former adviser to Michael Wooldridge and Tony Abbott. After years of advocating for vaping, he realises you can’t win a debate when one side is not listening. He is reluctantly withdrawing from the fight. He explains why. The Morrison government’s prescription model was bad enough. It treated adult vapers as addicts and treatment by doctors was optional. The New Year’s Day ban and the proposed outlawing of all vapes later this year was the last straw and Terry is “over it”.

January 02, 2024 by theguardian.com

This year the Australian government is introducing a series of measures to restrict the availability of vapes, starting 1 January. The new reforms address loopholes in the current laws that allow easy access to highly addictive, flavoured, cheap, and harmful vaping products that are marketed to kids. Vaping products will still be available through a prescription for anyone using them to quit smoking. But the Therapeutic Goods Administration will tightly regulate prescription-only vapes.

December 15, 2023 by filtermag.org

After nearly a decade advocating for vaping as a tobacco harm reduction strategy in Australia, I am stepping away from the field to retire. Witnessing Australia’s descent over these years, from its former status as a global leader in tobacco control to the current slow-moving train wreck, has been profoundly distressing. Where vaping is seen by other Western democracies as a huge opportunity for public health, successive Australian governments have framed it as a threat. The ensuing prohibitive regulations have neutralized the potential benefits and led to troubling and escalating unintended consequences.