Single-use disposable vapes (or e-cigarettes) were banned from passing Australian shores six months ago. 

The ban was billed as a hard-line, no-nonsense approach by Health Minister Mark Butler, who was under increasing pressure from health professionals, schools and parents to do something about the meteoric rise of vaping across Australia, especially among children.  

In today’s newsletter, I look at the impact of the vaping ban over the last six months, and the response it’s received across the country. 

Butler announced a series of changes to vaping access in November that, if successful, would gradually ban access to recreational vapes across the country. 

These changes were due to take place in stages, starting with the import ban on 1 January. 

Two months later, an import ban on most other types of vapes, such as personal supplies and non-medicinal e-cigarettes, was added. New regulations for medical vapes were also added on 1 March, including a requirement for suppliers to prove their compliance with enhanced standards imposed by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration. 

The import bans would be paired with legislation preventing vapes from being made and sold in Australia. These laws were hurried through the Federal Parliament at the end of last month, before coming into effect this month. 

When paired together, the new laws and regulations were designed to ban recreational vapes from Australia. It’s an ambitious goal with several roadblocks to success.

About three million illicit vapes have been seized at the Australian border in the six months since the import ban came into effect. But Butler (above, right) has been sure not to waste a single one. Dozens of brightly-coloured vape packages have flanked Butler at the press conferences he’s held to spruik his Government’s latest successful seizure.

While these busts have undoubtedly had an impact on the national vape supply, it’ll probably take a little while yet to know just how much of a dent they’ve made on e-cigarette access in Australia. 

The market may have been relatively unharmed at the start of the year, as vapes sold to individual Australians could have entered the country weeks or months before the import ban came into effect. Others may have rushed to order loads of e-cigarettes in December, ahead of the import ban commencing.

With any major regulatory change, it’s important to account for a ‘lag’ period between when the change comes into effect, and when it has an effect.

While the import ban has now been in place for a little while, the most recent chapter of the Federal Government’s vaping reform came two weeks ago, when Parliament passed “centrepiece” laws banning the domestic manufacture and supply of recreational and disposable vapes. It also outlawed the commercial possession of vapes, and will stop businesses from advertising e-cigarettes. 

The laws only passed Parliament after some last-minute negotiations between the Government and the Greens. During these talks, the Greens secured an amendment allowing adults to buy medicinal vapes from pharmacies without a prescription in exchange for their support of the legislation. The Greens said that this push was because they “don’t support prohibition”, and therefore this change meant that “there’s no chance of individuals being criminalised for possessing a personal vape”.

Before the amendment, only adults with a prescription would have been eligible to purchase vapes at a pharmacy. The laws came into effect at the start of this week.

The vapes offered in pharmacies won’t be in fluorescent colours, or sold in flavours that the Federal Government said were appealing to children. They will only be sold in mint, menthol and tobacco flavours, sold in plain packaging, and be approved by the TGA.

The amendment didn’t receive a warm welcome from the pharmaceutical industry, which said it had no interest in housing medicinal vapes on its shelves. The Pharmacy Guild of Australia – the body representing the major chemists and thousands of smaller ones – said pharmacies were “deeply disappointed” with the amendment, which they said was “developed in a vacuum”.

Since Australia’s vaping reforms are still in their infancy, it’s difficult to tell if they’ll actually be able to phase out recreational vaping across the country. 

At a consumer level, I’ve found that vapes are still easy to find but sellers have become more discreet, perhaps due to greater public scrutiny. I’ve also observed a rise in vape prices over the past few months, perhaps reflecting smaller supply chains and the greater personal risk taken by Australian suppliers and sellers since the new regulations have started to be enforced. 

The Government recognises the difficult challenge it faces. Butler has taken on vaping control as a pet project since becoming health minister, and doesn’t seem to be taking his foot off the gas pedal just yet. He created the position of Illicit Tobacco and E-cigarette Commissioner on Monday, a role which he says will “ramp-up our fight” against recreational vapes crossing Australian shores. 

Whether it will be any match for the organisations behind the multi-billion-dollar global vaping trade remains to be seen.

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