Some Australian States May Fully Ban E-cigarette Retail?

On October 16, news emerged that Chris Minns, the Premier of New South Wales, Australia, stated that retailers should be banned from selling vaping products nationwide to curb easy access to illegal products containing nicotine.

The state government has committed to investing $6.8 million over three years to enforce vaping restrictions and services to help young people quit smoking products. Mr. Minns indicated that more inspectors checking illegal vaping retailers would be helpful, but national measures need to be taken. According to current Australian law, nicotine-containing vaping products can only be purchased and sold with a prescription, while non-nicotine products can be purchased over the counter. However, many products currently available in Australia have been found to contain nicotine in retail sales. Retailers can face fines of $2,000 for illegal sales of vaping products. The federal government announced in May a budget of $234 million for stricter regulations, including tighter import and packaging controls. However, these yet-to-be-implemented measures include banning the import of non-prescription vaping products and disposable products for retail locations.