Today, the WA government will introduce new vaping regulations banning the sale of vapes without a prescription.
The new regulations will see vaping products only available via prescription from a doctor or nurse practitioner and dispensed at a pharmacy, in WA.
“This is a very welcome addition to the changes introduced by the Federal Government in July this year,” says Laura Hunter, ACOSH CEO.
“We applaud the WA Government for adding additional safeguards that will protect our children from the toxic harms of nicotine addiction”.
The move comes as the Federal Government had to strike a deal with the Greens and water-down the proposed vaping reforms in Canberra this year. This saw the prescription model for vapes go up in smoke.
“Vapes should only be used to support people to quit smoking, and General Practitioners play a key role here. The prescription model is the best way to stop access for younger Australians while allowing adult smokers to use them as the Quit tool they were marketed as” said Laura Hunter Co-CEO of the Australian Council on Smoking and Health.
“Let’s be honest here, the tobacco and vaping industry are entirely behind the push to have open access to vaping products. The WA Health Minister has shown incredible leadership on this issue today, but we can’t afford to take our foot off the pedal.
There is more to do here, we need the WA legislation updated to allow better enforcement and compliance of tobacco and vaping products. The job is not done”.
ENDS
ACOSH is an independent, non-government, not for profit coalition which represents 31 prominent health, research, social service and community organisations with a shared concern about smoking and vaping and their harmful consequences. ACOSH has been a leading advocate for all the regulatory and legislative changes to reduce the impact of smoking on the Australian community and is supported by the Healthway – the Western Australian Health Promotion Foundation.