Australia eases ban on e-cigarettes and can buy vape in pharmacies without a prescription from October 1

On June 25, Australian Health Minister Mark Butler announced that the current government is determined to eliminate recreational e-cigarettes in the country and return e-cigarettes to the original intention of therapeutic products. Starting July 1, therapeutic e-cigarettes can be purchased at pharmacies with a doctor’s prescription. From October 1, therapeutic e-cigarettes can be purchased at pharmacies without a prescription.
This year, Australia has made three waves of reforms for e-cigarettes.
The first wave came on January 1 this year, when Health Minister Butler introduced an import control measure to ban the import of any single-use e-cigarettes into Australia, and also provided significant additional resources to the Border Force and the Therapeutic Goods Administration to enforce the ban.
The second wave of reforms came in March, stipulating that non-therapeutic e-cigarettes would be banned from sale and supply more broadly. The TGA (Therapeutic Goods Administration) has issued very clear standards on the types of e-cigarettes that can be sold as therapeutic products in Australia, It also includes prescribing levels of nicotine and other chemicals, designing drug packaging, and limiting the three flavors of tobacco, menthol or menthol.
The third wave of reform will be submitted to the senate this week, the bill has passed the House of Representatives, if the senate also passed, then from next Monday, the sale and supply of e-cigarettes outside the pharmacy will be banned.
Health Minister Butler said the bill had the backing of all health ministers across the country, whether in Liberal or Labour-controlled jurisdictions, and that it had very broad support in the area of public health and he was determined to get it passed this week.
Butler is determined to eliminate the recreational e-cigarette market and return e-cigarettes to their original purpose: a therapeutic product. From July 1, only therapeutic e-cigarettes will be available for sale, and only in pharmacies. As of October 1, legal e-cigarettes that meet TGA standards can be purchased not only from pharmacies with a doctor’s prescription, but also as so-called “Schedule 3” drugs without a prescription.
It has been revealed that the government will propose the above amendment when the legislation goes to the Senate this week.