Australia to Announce Sweeping Crackdown on Vaping, Calling It a Major Threat on Campuses

According to the Daily Mail on April 28, Australia’s health minister will announce a series of sweeping crackdowns on e-cigarettes in the coming weeks to curb the growth of “a new generation of nicotine addicts.”

These rules will include a ban on flavors, plain packaging similar to cigarettes, and tighter import restrictions to combat the illegal smuggling of e-cigarettes into the country.

Health Minister Mark Butler said e-cigarettes are clearly being marketed to children, and blasted claims that most e-cigarettes do not contain nicotine as “absolute nonsense.”

(Image source: Daily Mail)

He said e-cigarettes are clearly targeting children, with flavors such as bubble gum, and surveys have found that one in six secondary school students said they had tried using e-cigarettes.

All of the crackdown measures will be finalized in the May budget.

Butler said he would take the strongest possible action to stop e-cigarettes from becoming normalized in schools.

Butler said: “School authorities are going crazy — not just high schools, but primary schools as well.”

“These shops falsely claim they are selling nicotine-free e-cigarettes, and we know that is complete nonsense.”

“Every time someone does random testing on these products, they find that the overwhelming majority are nicotine e-cigarettes, and you have to ask the question: why would anyone want nicotine-free e-cigarettes?”

“I mean, that’s the whole point of buying them — to get that hit.”

Butler said he would welcome recommendations from the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to help prevent more minors from becoming addicted to smoking.

Butler said: “The TGA recommends pharmaceutical-style packaging, so it won’t be those attractive packs with pink unicorns on them. And the flavors will be very limited.”

(Image source: Daily Mail)

At present, only people with a prescription can legally buy nicotine e-cigarettes from a pharmacist, but many convenience stores and tobacco shops are still openly selling them without hesitation.

Specialty stores are also common across the country, with rows of brightly colored e-cigarettes displayed openly at the entrance.

Butler said: “This is a devious product deliberately designed by the tobacco industry to create a new generation of nicotine addicts.”

“That fully explains why people under 25 are the only group with rising smoking rates — that is exactly what this industry wants.”

“Among people in their 50s and older, one in 70 has used e-cigarettes. But among people my daughter’s age, one in four has used them.”

New research shows that people who vape are three times more likely to start smoking cigarettes than the general population.

Other reports cited by Butler indicate that over the past year, more than 50 children under the age of four were poisoned after inhaling nicotine.

(Image source: Daily Mail)

The budget will reveal how severe this crackdown will be, and Butler also said that attention must likewise be paid to border controls.

“We have to take action at the border. Greg Hunt tried to do that, but he was rolled by his own party within 10 days.”

“Because they are not coming into Australia in containers labeled as e-cigarettes — they come in very small boxes, so that requires the states and territories to step in.”

Butler said one of the difficulties in addressing the import issue is establishing the right regulatory framework, which would give states and territories the power to enforce these rules.