A Prescription Model for Vapes: The way we ‘do’ medicines policy in Australia
Abstract: On 2 May 2023, the Australian Federal Government announced a suite of reforms aimed at ensuring the effectiveness of the prescription model of regulation of vaping (or e-cigarette) products in Australia. These reforms are intended to protect Australians, particularly young people, from the harms of vaping and nicotine dependence. The ensuing public debate on the issue has often created the impression that the options under consideration are to either retain ‘recently introduced’ prescription regulation or to ‘revert to’ a retail supply approach. However, the sale of nicotine vapes by retailers such as tobacconists and convenience stores has never been lawful in Australia. The reforms do not seek to change the way nicotine vaping products are regulated, but rather to ensure that the existing prescription model can be effectively enforced and can function as originally intended. This paper describes the historical context and rationale for strengthening prescription regulation of vapes in this country.
Key points:
- Reforms before the Australian Parliament aim to strengthen the prescription model for the regulation of vaping (e-cigarette) products
- The prescription model has been in place for some years but has not operated effectively because of an anomalous regulatory distinction between nicotine and non-nicotine vaping products, which has hindered its enforcement
- A failure to enact these reforms would not legalise the retail supply of vapes in Australia but would delay measures to improve enforcement efforts
- Successful implementation of the prescription model for nicotine vapes could help to prevent future nicotine addiction, facilitate the effective use of vaping products and prevent illegal sales, setting a global benchmark for regulating vaping products to protect public health
Conclusion: Vaping products in Australia have not been singled out for particularly harsh regulatory treatment. Rather they have been regulated in the same way as every other therapeutic good in Australia. Australia’s prescription model has not failed because ‘prohibition doesn’t work’; rather the prescription model has not had the opportunity to operate effectively because the anomalous regulatory distinction between nicotine and non-nicotine vaping products has prevented it from being properly enforced. The current reforms are about ensuring the prescription model works as intended. Failure to support the current Bill would not legalise the retail supply of vapes in Australia. However, failing to pass the Bill would delay the introduction of measures that could otherwise start within a matter of weeks to improve enforcement efforts across all levels of government.
(Source: Public Health Research & Practice (A Journal of Sax Institute)
