27 June 2024:

 

" I'll make some points of clarification here. The Greens have negotiated amendments to the Therapeutic Goods and Other Legislation (Vaping Reforms) Bill 2024 and will support the legislation's passage through the Senate, as we have been doing. As a result of the Greens' negotiations, we've secured significant changes to the government's prescription-only legislation, which risked criminalising—this is a really important point—people for possessing vapes for personal use.

 

The changes: firstly, vapes will be available from a chemist as a schedule 3 pharmacist-only medication for adults over 18 years old, rather than require a prescription from a GP. These will be plain packaged and properly regulated vapes. Data of vape purchases will not—this was critical for us—be recorded. Secondly, GPs can continue to prescribe therapeutic vapes, and a prescription will be the only pathway for vapes for people under 18 if they're deemed clinically appropriate. Thirdly, possession of personal-use quantities of any form of vape will not be subject to criminal charges. This was a particularly important point for us. There will be an eight-month personal possession amnesty period. Commercial quantities sold by retailers other than pharmacies will be unlawful. Fourthly, as this is world-leading legislation, there will be a review of this legislation after three years—another critical point. There will be an expanded disposal framework via pharmacies. There will be stronger regulations around advertising to healthcare professionals. Additional funding will be announced to support young people quitting vaping."

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Elizabeth Watson-Brown Is Wrong, Here's Why:

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Ms. Watson-Brown’s claims about the Therapeutic Goods and Other Legislation (Vaping Reforms) Bill 2024 contain several key misrepresentations and flawed assumptions. While she presents these reforms as a balanced and progressive approach, the reality is that the legislation remains prohibitionist, ineffective, and detrimental to public health.

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1. The Pharmacist-Only Model is Still Restrictive and Will Fail Adult Smokers​

   • Fact: The most effective harm reduction approach—as seen in the UK, New Zealand, and Canada—is a regulated consumer model where adults can buy vapes from licensed retail outlets​.

   • Pharmacists are not trained smoking cessation experts, and many may be unwilling to sell nicotine vapes, just as many doctors have refused to prescribe them under the previous system​.

   • Practical Outcome: Many smokers will return to cigarettes or resort to the black market—a known consequence of restrictive policies​.

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1. 2 While the Greens secured a shift from a prescription-only model to a Schedule 3 pharmacist-only system, this still severely limits access to vaping products for adult smokers.

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1. 3 The Claim That This is "World-Leading" Legislation is False

   • Fact: Australia is becoming an international outlier, moving further towards prohibition while countries like the UK and New Zealand are embracing harm reduction strategies that actually work​.

   • The Royal College of Physicians (RCP), Cancer Research UK, and Public Health England have all endorsed regulated nicotine vaping as an effective tool for smoking cessation​​​.

   • No other country that has successfully reduced smoking rates has restricted vaping to pharmacies only. This approach has already failed in Australia, leading to a thriving black market and youth access to unregulated products​.

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1. 4 The Personal Possession Amnesty is a Temporary Patch, Not a Real Solution

   • Ms. Watson-Brown highlights an eight-month amnesty period for personal vape possession, but this does not solve the core problem—what happens after those eight months?

   • This creates uncertainty for vapers, particularly those who have already transitioned away from cigarettes.

   • Fact: Criminalization of personal use is already a failed strategy in tobacco and drug policy. Countries that have taken harm-reduction approaches—such as New Zealand and the UK—have seen smoking rates decline faster than those relying on punitive bans​.

   • Outcome: Once the amnesty ends, many vapers will be forced to buy from illegal sources or switch back to smoking, which remains legally and widely available.

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1. 5 The Advertising Restrictions Are Misguided

   • The claim that stronger regulations around advertising to healthcare professionals will improve public health is misleading.

   • Fact: There is already widespread misinformation about vaping among Australian healthcare professionals​.

   • The NHS, Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP), and other health authorities recommend vaping as a smoking cessation tool, but Australia has failed to educate doctors and pharmacists properly​.

   • Restricting information on vaping will only reinforce misconceptions, making it even harder for adult smokers to access life-saving alternatives.

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1. 6 The Youth Vaping Narrative is Misleading

   • Ms. Watson-Brown emphasizes additional funding for young people quitting vaping, but this ignores the real issue: why are youth vaping in the first place?

   • Fact: Studies show that most youth vapers were already smokers or would have become smokers​.

   • A better approach: Rather than prohibiting safer nicotine alternatives, Australia should regulate access responsibly, ensuring that adult smokers can transition while preventing youth uptake through strict retail regulations and enforcement​.

   • Reality: The black market has flourished under existing restrictions, making flavored, high-nicotine disposable vapes more accessible to youth than regulated products would be​.

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 This Policy is Prohibition in Disguise

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The Greens’ amendments do not change the fundamental issue:

Australia is doubling down on prohibitionist policies that have already failed. While the pharmacy model is slightly less restrictive than the original prescription-only approach, it still does not provide adult smokers with proper access to a less harmful alternative to cigarettes.

If Australia truly wants world-leading legislation, it should follow the evidence-based models in the UK and New Zealand, where vapes are available through licensed retail stores with strict age verification. The current plan keeps cigarettes widely available while driving vapers back to smoking or the black market—a public health failure.

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