Australia Proposed a Vape Prescription Law
Australia is tentatively planning to make nicotine-containing vaping products available with a prescription at pharmacies beginning next June. The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) announced but will accept public comment on the process until Nov. 6, and issue a final rule by the end of the year.
Sale of vaping products containing nicotine is currently illegal in Australia, and even possession is outlawed in all but one state. The law, as it stands now, allows vapers to import up to a three-month supply of nicotine with a doctor’s prescription—but that is largely ignored by both vapers and the authorities.
Just one to two percent of vapers bother getting a prescription, according to Dr. Colin Mendelsohn, a board member of the Australian Tobacco Harm Reduction Association (ATHRA). Most vapers import nicotine without a prescription, a practice that could earn them huge fines if health minister Greg Hunt’s planned import ban takes effect as scheduled, on Jan. 1, 2021.
Hunt’s import ban, which was announced on June 19, calls for enforcement cooperation between the Department of Health and the Australian Border Force, and would punish those attempting to import nicotine without a prescription with fines of up to 222,000 Australian dollars (about $152,000 US).
Sale of vaping products containing nicotine is currently illegal in Australia, and even possession is outlawed in all but one state. The law, as it stands now, allows vapers to import up to a three-month supply of nicotine with a doctor’s prescription—but that is largely ignored by both vapers and the authorities.
Just one to two percent of vapers bother getting a prescription, according to Dr. Colin Mendelsohn, a board member of the Australian Tobacco Harm Reduction Association (ATHRA). Most vapers import nicotine without a prescription, a practice that could earn them huge fines if health minister Greg Hunt’s planned import ban takes effect as scheduled, on Jan. 1, 2021.
Hunt’s import ban, which was announced on June 19, calls for enforcement cooperation between the Department of Health and the Australian Border Force, and would punish those attempting to import nicotine without a prescription with fines of up to 222,000 Australian dollars (about $152,000 US).
