EXPERT REACTION: Government to crack down on vaping in Australia

Consuming nicotine via regular smoking or vaping leads to the release of the chemical dopamine in the human brain. As with many drugs, dopamine teaches the brain to repeat the same behaviour over and over. This vicious cycle might be the reason teens who venture to vape (using electronic devices like JUUL) often end up with regular smoking—to get more and more of the nicotine that the brain now hankers.  

Apart from that, nicotine can damage the genome, disrupt cellular metabolic process, and facilitate growth and spreading of transformed cells. These detrimental effects result in tumour-promoting activities on the body. Nicotine also effects multiple organs including the respiratory system by altering airflow through the conducting airways, increasing oxidative stress, interfering with lung development, and impairing host defence against bacterial and viral pathogens. Though, vaping with nicotine is not as prominent in Australia as the other countries. They are being sold in Australia without nicotine and with different flavours. In fact, we had to carry out our research in USA. However, as mentioned earlier, the kids with this flavoured vaping will land on smoking over time. Hence, I think it is a very timely action to safeguard our future generation from tobacco products. 

We have developed a flexible, battery-free, wireless vape sensor that can be mounted on skin, walls, toilets, washrooms, bus stops or at any places restricted for vaping or smoking to stealthy monitor the vaping or smoking events that can serve the purpose of the Government initiative.

While vaping and e-cigarettes can have a role in supporting smokers who are trying to quit, even these products are not just a 'safe alternative' to traditional cigarettes (even though they are often seen like this). We need to keep this in mind for policy and regulation. 

No vaping equipment has any place in schools or being marketed to children.

While the so-called 'non-nicotine' vaping products aren’t supposed to contain nicotine, there are many cases of products being falsely labelled as 'nicotine-free' or simply not listing nicotine in the ingredients even when it is there. Vapes on the market have also been found to contain all sorts of other potentially harmful chemicals that were not listed on the label. I think there is strong evidence that the current approach isn’t really working. Imposing minimum quality standards and making vapes pharmacy-only won’t solve the problem, but these measures will at least help people be assured of the content of the products they buy – as long as the rules are enforced.

While there may be potential unintended effects of this decision, for example restricting vaping might drive people back to traditional cigarettes (which are obviously worse), I think these are unlikely and so today’s announcement is a welcome move by the government.”

This decision by the Federal Government is a critical step towards effectively controlling the growing use of nicotine vaping products. The Minister’s decision to take action now, using evidence-backed measures including a focus on packaging design, minimum product standards, and import restrictions represents strong action for the health of people in Australia.

Banning all single-use, disposable vapes is invaluable for protecting the current and future health of young people and non-smokers. Importantly, this decision maintains the prescription access pathway for adult smokers seeking to quit, and where this a suitable smoking cessation option.

Introducing minimum standards that limit product appeal, and that reduce allowable nicotine content will greatly benefit the health of current and future generations by reducing the addictive potential of nicotine vaping products.

I look forward to this decision helping to shape how we deliver research outcomes and health promotion action in nicotine and tobacco control following these new measures.

These new laws will be instrumental in tackling the increase in youth vaping across the nation. Vaping has become a major health concern, especially amongst young Australians who are commonly using the products. These reforms are a major step forward in reducing the incidence of vaping and limiting the exposure of the vaping industry.

Vaping rates amongst Australian youth have nearly doubled since 2019. Although vapes were first introduced as a tool to help adults quit or reduce smoking, these devices are largely used by youth who are not current or ever-users of tobacco. Whilst the long term health impacts of vaping are still emerging, research shows that vaping can result in acute lung injury, poisoning, burns and toxicity through inhalation. Specifically amongst youth, the risk to brain development as a result of consuming nicotine, a common component in these devices, is particularly concerning.

Despite it currently being illegal to sell or supply vapes of any kind to minors within Australia, research shows that youth do not view the current laws and regulations as a barrier to accessing these devices. Vapes are viewed by youth as easily accessible through convenience stores, online and peers. Given this, further regulatory and public health approaches to prevent youth uptake of vaping within Australia are clearly required.

Supplementing proposed strategies to stop youth from accessing vapes, such as ceasing the importation of non-prescription vapes, with evidence-based health promotion programmes to discourage youth from taking up vaping should also be prioritised to address this public health issue.

In response to Australia's recent announcement of comprehensive smoking reforms, including the ban on non-prescription vapes, we express our support for these important measures. The ban on flavoured liquids and disposable vapes is a valuable step, as these products often appeal to young children, leading to potentially harmful habits.

At Blurred Minds, we have spent over a decade developing innovative and engaging alcohol and drug education resources, including materials addressing vaping. It is encouraging to see the federal budget allocate funds for vaping education and public health campaigns.

Based on our experience working with numerous schools and their principals and teachers, we have found that schools still need significant support in addressing the issue of vaping. These recent reforms represent a positive step forward in tackling this problem.

It is pleasing to see Minister Butler take a stand against vested interests and introduce measures that will safeguard the health of Australians. In countries where these products are being treated as consumer goods that are available at your local convenience store, youth vaping rates have skyrocketed. The measures announced by Minister Butler will ensure these harmful products do not become the new tobacco cigarette.

We welcome Minister Butler’s reforms – for too long we’ve seen these products freely available despite current restrictions, which is fuelling a surge in youth vaping, as we’ve seen in our own research. Parents and teachers are at a loss to know how to control this escalating public health issue. It’s high time that the stealth marketing tactics of the tobacco industry are curbed before we allow them to create a new generation of nicotine addicts.

A change to Australia’s prescription only model of regulating vaping products is long overdue. The policy has failed to restrict youth access or to allow smokers to legally access these products to help them quit. 

Most Australian smokers who use vaping products break the law by obtaining them without a prescription because the AMA and medical colleges discourage doctors from prescribing them. And adolescents have ready access to cheap, colourful and flavoured disposable nicotine vapes. 

A ban on sales of disposable vapes is welcomed as a way to deter youth uptake but much more effort will need to be made to ensure that smokers can easily and legally access approved vaping products. 

We sorely need much better data on the prevalence of vaping in Australia. The latest national data are from 2019. The results of 2022 surveys are not likely to be available before 2024, unless the government expedites their release. In the absence of good data, public policy is being set by alarmist tabloid headlines. 

It would be unfortunate if Australia decides to wage a 'war on vaping and vapers' in an effort to make Australia great again in the field of tobacco control.

In my opinion, having studied many aspects of tobacco control over the last 36 years, I am gravely concerned that the government’s new policy will do more harm than good. I think there is a high likelihood it will result in an increase in the rates of tobacco smoking, even though it will achieve its proximal goal of reducing levels of vaping in the community.

The ban on any form of recreational vaping in the short term will lead to a significant proportion of those who are dependent on the nicotine to switch to cigarettes which are still widely available, and there will be a somewhat delayed uptake in smoking among those who are not currently dependent. The policy also appears to be reducing the nicotine levels in prescription vapes. If these levels are dropped low enough, it is likely to greatly reduce their effectiveness as smoking cessation aids and thus lead to considerable relapse back to smoking. Furthermore, a proportion of those who quit using vaping need to maintain their vaping over an extended period after they quit, and the prescription model will make this difficult, again likely leading to a resumption smoking by some.

There is no reasonable doubt that vaping is a lot less harmful than smoking, and these changes are likely to increase smoking rates and thus increase the burden of ill health and premature mortality in Australia.

The contrast could not be starker with what is happening in New Zealand, where they are making major efforts to reduce smoking, and taking a more tolerant tax approach to vaping. I predict the New Zealand approach is going to have a vast better impact on public health.

The government’s approach is an extension of the war on drugs to nicotine, but unlike the war on drugs, they are leaving the most harmful form, smoking, readily available. The war on drugs failed. It is likely that this policy will fail also.

The product is the problem and needs to be eliminated from shops and streets. At the current time, the level of nicotine exposure, dependence and associated harms in young Australians is unprecedented in our history. The actions mooted by the Minister for Health are a first step to addressing it.

The readily available fruit-flavoured, high-nicotine disposable devices are at the core of the current problem. They are inherently dangerous and have no place in a civil society that is protective of the welfare of children and young adults. It is welcome that the Minister recognises considerable healthcare provider educational needs that need to be rapidly and practically addressed. 

Knowledge enhancement and support will also be important for the education sector – school leaders, teacher, student support staff. The Medicinal Access Framework will be effective in helping the group of smokers motivated strongly to quit smoking with the assistance of electronic cigarettes.

The vaping industry has lured Australian kids with bright packages, fruity flavours, and addictive nicotine. I applaud the Federal Government’s announcement to end easy access to vapes designed to appeal to young people. These new reforms will both protect children and enable access to vapes only by adults smokers seeking to quit.
 
Our Generation Vape research shows that teens prefer cheap, disposable, vaping products that are laced with nicotine and smell and taste like sweets. The proposed reforms ban these kid-friendly products and prioritise public health.
 
Today is a victory for public health and is in keeping with Australia’s leadership in tobacco control.

Labor governments have always been in the global vanguard of progressive tobacco control: Whitlam started advertising bans, Nicola Roxon led with plain packs and now Mark Butler with very tough vaping control, keeping it well away from kids.
 
Like plain packaging, countries around the world will be lining up to copy Australia. The government has again stared down Big Tobacco. All companies wanted to be able to sell these products through cooperative retail outlets with years of form in selling tobacco and illegal vapes to kids.
 
Vapes are not being banned but strictly regulated like they always should have been. Anyone who says they are banned probably also believes that every prescribed drug in Australia is by the same argument also banned.
 
The vaping industry thinks it is too important to be regulated. For example, asthma puffers, used by 2.6m Australians have never been flavoured because inhaling vapourised chemicals is not safe. The vaping industry doesn’t care about such concerns. It just wants to hasten addiction with beguiling flavours not approved anywhere for inhalation.

Disposable vaping devices have been most associated with a rapid uptake in youth use in most countries, including Australia. They also have a substantial environmental impact and many are of questionable quality. Therefore, banning these specific vaping products is a reasonable approach that should assist with the protection of young people. It is also good to see a government commitment to widening access to quality vaping products for people who smoke to use as a tool to stop smoking because tobacco cigarettes remain a larger health threat to individuals who smoke and the Australian population.

The Telethon Kids Institute is very supportive of the strong stance and decisive action the government is taking towards what could be termed a public-health disaster. While we don't know the specific details yet, the restriction of flavours, colours and other ingredients, plus reductions in nicotine volumes and concentrations are an important step in tackling youth vaping.

These changes will help restore Australia's place at the forefront of tobacco control. The government funding towards public health information about smoking and vaping and the Tackling Indigenous Smoking programs are also most welcome, and long overdue. While the reforms are a critical step in curbing youth vaping, enforcement of import and sales bans, particularly of disposable vapes favoured by young people, remains an issue.

We were amongst the first people in Australia to highlight the dangers of vaping.  We know that many vaping products labelled as nicotine-free contain nicotine, and that youth vaping has led to an increase in cigarette smoking. The news of an impending ban on electronic cigarettes (vapes) without a prescription is a move in the right direction to limit cigarette smoking in Australia.  

The question is, could more have been done? Perhaps cigarette sales could be regulated in the same way, i.e. only available to current smokers to limit the start of smoking, could prescription vaping be limited to 6 month so that it is not a long-term alternative to cigarette smoking?  I hope that this is a signal from the government that more tobacco regulation is to come.

We know that e-cigarettes can cause harms, such as seizures, throat irritation, coughing, difficulty breathing, and addiction. We also know that people who don’t smoke but use e-cigarettes are around three times as likely to take up smoking as those who don't use e-cigarettes.

It is encouraging to hear that we have been listening to community calls for action, and are stopping the import of non-prescription e-cigarettes at our borders. I expect this will help reduce the flood of easily accessible e-cigarette products, particularly targeting children, young people and people who do not smoke.

Most Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who smoke want to quit, or wish they never took it up. But approximately 40% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults smoke daily. These measures are a much welcome step toward accelerating reductions in tobacco use.