Read articles from Oceania

January 31, 2024 by miragenews.com

Almost 90 per cent of Western Australia's vape stores are located less than 1km from a school, an Australian first study by The University of Notre Dame Australia has found. The study identified 194 stores in WA that sold vaping products as a main form of business, with 88 per cent located a short walk from either a primary school or high school. One primary school in Fremantle has two vape stores within 200m.

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 18, 2024 by theconversation.com

Supporters of the new government’s plan to repeal Aotearoa New Zealand’s smokefree legislation have claimed victory against “prohibition”. Introduced under Jacinda Ardern’s government, the smokefree law came into effect in January 2023 and included a commitment to introduce mandated “denicotinisation” (cutting the nicotine to levels that are no longer addictive) of smoked tobacco products. Studies estimated this measure would have greatly reduced smoking and helped prevent avoidable death and suffering. However, opponents, notably the tobacco industry and its allies, criticised the measure as “prohibition”.

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 11, 2024 by colinmendelsohn.com.au

Almost a quarter of a million fewer Kiwis are now smoking daily, and it puts us in a tiny club of countries that have smoking rates under 7 per cent. What we have in common with these successful countries is people switching from smoked tobacco to less harmful alternatives. To reach the smoking goal of 5 per cent or less (that is, 95 per cent or more of all adults being “smokefree”), around 100,000 smokers need to quit over the next two years. Our decline in smoking in the last four years is extraordinary - equivalent to what took two decades to achieve. The unprecedented progress shown in the New Zealand Health Survey should have been a cause to celebrate. [...]

January 09, 2024 by youtube.com

We sit down with Prof. Marewa Glover to discuss the recent THR news from New Zealand.

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”.