"We must educate our young people about the dangers of vaping, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to make informed decisions about their own health."
Timeline:
27 March 2024:
" I rise to speak in support of the Therapeutic Goods and Other Legislation Amendment (Vaping Reforms) Bill 2024. The Albanese Labor government is taking world-leading action to tackle vaping. Our reforms will protect Australians from the harms of vaping and nicotine dependence while ensuring that those with a legitimate need to access therapeutic vapes can continue to do so."
Dan Repacholi Is Wrong, Here's Why:
Dan Repacholi MP’s speech is riddled with misconceptions, misleading claims, and a fundamental misunderstanding of harm reduction and public health policy. Below is a fact-based rebuttal, explaining why his arguments are incorrect.
1. “Our reforms will protect Australians from the harms of vaping and nicotine dependence.”
The Facts: Banning Vapes Will Drive People Back to Smoking, Not Protect Them
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Vaping is at least 95% safer than smoking, according to Public Health England and the UK Royal College of Physicians.
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Nicotine itself is not the cause of smoking-related diseases—it's the tar, carbon monoxide, and thousands of toxic chemicals in cigarettes that cause harm.
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By banning vapes while keeping cigarettes widely available, the government is pushing people back toward smoking, which will worsen public health outcomes.
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Countries like the UK and New Zealand have successfully reduced smoking rates by encouraging vaping as a smoking cessation tool.
2. “There has been a huge increase in the number of young people accessing and using vapes.”
The Facts: Black Market Sales, Not Legal Retail Sales, Are the Cause of Youth Vaping
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Youth access to vapes is a problem caused by Australia’s black market, which exists due to the failure to properly regulate legal vape sales.
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In countries where vaping is legally sold with strict age verification (such as the UK), youth vaping rates are more controlled, and youth smoking rates continue to decline.
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Banning vapes does not eliminate demand—it only shifts supply to illegal, unregulated sources, where youth have even easier access.
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The best way to protect young people is to introduce a legal, well-regulated market with strong age enforcement, rather than forcing vapes into criminal networks.
3. “Vapes are advertised with flavors and colors that misrepresent how harmful they are.”
The Facts: Flavors Are Crucial for Helping Adult Smokers Quit
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Flavored vapes play a crucial role in helping smokers quit by making the transition away from cigarettes easier.
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Most adult vapers prefer fruit and dessert flavors over tobacco flavors because they help disassociate vaping from smoking.
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Countries that have banned flavored vapes have seen increases in cigarette smoking because vapers return to tobacco.
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Regulating flavors (such as restricting marketing but allowing adult sales) is a better solution than banning them outright.
4. “Young Australians who vape are three times more likely to take up tobacco smoking.”
The Facts: The “Gateway Effect” Is a Myth
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There is no credible evidence proving that vaping causes smoking—the claim that vapers are more likely to smoke is based on correlation, not causation.
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The most likely explanation for this statistic is that young people who experiment with vapes would have been more likely to try smoking anyway.
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In countries where vaping is allowed and encouraged for smoking cessation, youth smoking rates continue to fall, contradicting the claim that vaping leads to smoking.
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If vaping were truly a gateway to smoking, youth smoking rates should be rising—but they are not.
5. “Vaping is creating a whole new generation of nicotine dependency.”
The Facts: Most Youth Who Vape Do Not Become Regular Users
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Studies often fail to distinguish between experimental vaping and regular vaping, exaggerating concerns about addiction.
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Youth nicotine dependence is more common in regular cigarette smokers than in vapers, and vaping helps divert young people away from smoking.
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Australia’s focus should be on regulating youth access rather than banning vaping for all adults, which only fuels the black market.
6. “Labor’s vaping ban is world-leading.”
The Facts: Australia’s Vaping Policies Are Outdated and Unsupported by Science
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Australia is one of the only Western countries banning vaping while keeping cigarettes legal—most other countries are encouraging vaping as a harm reduction tool.
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Countries like the UK and New Zealand have embraced vaping as a key strategy to reduce smoking rates, and they are succeeding where Australia is failing.
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Australia’s prohibitionist approach is increasing the black market and harming public health by making it harder for smokers to quit.
7. “Big tobacco is behind vaping.”
The Facts: Banning Vapes Helps Big Tobacco, Not Hurts It
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If the government bans vapes, it will drive people back to cigarettes, which is exactly what Big Tobacco wants.
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Tobacco companies have been losing money in countries where vaping is allowed, as cigarette sales continue to decline.
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Australia’s harsh vaping regulations have actually protected cigarette sales, keeping Big Tobacco profitable.
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A well-regulated vape market would reduce smoking rates further while ensuring Big Tobacco does not dominate the industry.
8. “This bill bans the importation, manufacture, and sale of non-therapeutic vapes.”
The Facts: Banning Vapes Will Make the Black Market Worse
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Prohibition has never worked in history—it didn’t work with alcohol, it hasn’t worked with drugs, and it won’t work with vapes.
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Banning vapes will create a thriving black market, where unsafe, high-nicotine products will be sold with no quality control.
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The only way to regulate vaping effectively is to allow legal sales while enforcing strict safety and age restrictions.
9. “For smokers, vapes will still be available through the medical system.”
The Facts: The Prescription Model Has Already Failed
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Australia’s prescription-only model has been a disaster, with very few doctors prescribing vapes and many smokers returning to cigarettes instead.
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Countries that allow over-the-counter vape sales with strong regulations have seen better smoking cessation outcomes than Australia.
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Forcing smokers to get a prescription for vapes while allowing cigarettes to be sold in every corner store is completely illogical from a public health perspective.
10. “This bill will protect my children from vaping.”
The Facts: Banning Vapes Will Not Protect Children—Regulation Will
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Countries with legal, well-regulated vape markets have stronger enforcement against youth sales and better public health outcomes.
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Australia’s failed prohibition approach has already created an unregulated market where youth access is easier, not harder.
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If Dan Repacholi MP truly wanted to protect his children, he would support a well-regulated retail market rather than pushing vapes into the black market.
A More Effective Approach
Dan Repacholi MP’s speech is based on fear, misinformation, and a failure to understand harm reduction science. Instead of doubling down on prohibitionist policies that have already failed, Australia should adopt a regulated, evidence-based vaping policy, similar to the UK and New Zealand where:
✅ Smoking rates continue to fall.
✅ Youth vaping is controlled through proper retail regulation.
✅ Black markets are minimized.
✅ Adult smokers have legal access to a harm reduction tool.
By banning legal vapes, the Australian government is driving people back to smoking, strengthening criminal networks, and failing to protect youth. A legal, regulated market is the real solution.