Nearly three months after a nationwide ban came into force, tobacco shops and convenience stores still selling illegal e-cigarettes could soon face prosecution, with Health Minister Mark Butler suggesting a “far tougher approach” was needed.
Australia became the first country to ban the sale of e-cigarettes for non-therapeutic purposes in July, but from October adults will be able to buy them from pharmacies without a prescription.
The changes mean that businesses other than pharmacies found to be importing, manufacturing, supplying or advertising any type of e-cigarette could face multimillion-dollar fines and up to seven years in prison.
But the highly addictive devices are sold over the counter in some tobacco shops and convenience stores and remain widely available on the black market.
“It’s clear that some convenience stores and tobacco retailers are violating the law,” Butler told Insider on Sunday. “We have to get more aggressive.”
What’s in an e-cigarette?
Butler said the federal government had previously worked with state authorities to encourage retailers to turn their e-cigarette stock over to the Therapeutic Goods Administration by inspecting companies and “informing them of the new law and warning them about the consequences.”
But this moderate approach may soon come to an end after the health minister warned that prosecutions were on the way.
“I hope that authorities will start preparing to prosecute because this is something that is very important for the health of young people,” he said.
“I never thought this would be shut down overnight.”
“Recruiting a new generation of nicotine addicts”
The Government has long warned that unless urgent action is taken to prevent young people from accessing e-cigarettes, a new generation of nicotine addicts will be created.
By 2023, nearly one in ten 14-17 year olds will be using e-cigarettes, a five-fold increase from 2019. Over the same period, the rate among 18-24 year olds will quadruple to 21%, the first generation to reverse a downward trend in nicotine use in 25 years.
The federal government initially sought to impose a total ban on the sale of e-cigarettes without a doctor’s prescription, but as part of an agreement with the Green Party, the law was relaxed to allow adults to buy e-cigarettes from pharmacies without a prescription from October.
E-cigarettes sold at pharmacies are designed exclusively for people trying to quit smoking and come only in menthol, mint and tobacco flavors, in contrast to the wide selection of sweet and fruity flavors currently available at some convenience and tobacco stores.
Shadow Health Secretary Anne Ruston said Sunday that under federal e-cigarette regulations “children remain targets of a thriving and dangerous black market.”
“This administration has made it abundantly clear that it is not up to the task of cracking down on organized crime and protecting our children from the harms of e-cigarettes,” she said in a statement.
He said the coalition would instead set up an Illegal Tobacco and Vaping Task Force led by the Australian Federal Police and Border Force to “crack down on illegal e-cigarettes from the border to the stores”.
But Butler said Sunday that the retail ban, which has been in place since July 1, is “starting to have an effect,” pointing to vape shops in his own district that have been forced to close.
“Let’s remember why we’re doing this. E-cigarettes were introduced to help regular smokers quit, but we quickly realised that wasn’t the original purpose,” he said.
“In reality, this was an attempt to recruit a new generation of nicotine addicts.
“Many people, including the Liberal Party and the industry itself, have said this is too hard, but I am determined to keep fighting this and protect the health of young Australians.”
The July ban was the latest in a series of changes to e-cigarette laws implemented by the federal government.
Nearly all disposable e-cigarettes were banned from being imported into Australia in January, and since then, more than five million e-cigarettes have been seized at the border, Butler said.
