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* [13]Future of Health (BUTTON)
4 minute readMay 2, 202310:56 AM UTCLast Updated ago
Australia to ban recreational vaping in e-cigarette crackdown
By [14]Renju Jose (BUTTON)
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SYDNEY, May 2 (Reuters) - Australia said on Tuesday it will ban
recreational vaping and tighten other aspects of e-cigarette laws in
the biggest crackdown on the tobacco industry in more than a decade to
try to stop an alarming rise in teenage vaping.
The government aims to ban all disposable vapes, which often comes in
fruity flavours, ban the import of non-prescription vapes and limit
nicotine levels, aiming for the sale of vapes to be confined to helping
smokers quit.
"Just like they did with smoking, Big Tobacco has taken another
addictive product, wrapped it in shiny packaging and added flavours to
create a new generation of nicotine addicts," Health Minister Mark
Butler said in a speech at the National Press Club.
Vaping, widely seen as a safer alternative to smoking cigarettes and
useful for helping smokers quit, involves heating a liquid that
contains nicotine in what is called an e-cigarette and turning it into
a vapour that users inhale.
But studies have shown the potential of long-term harm from the
addictive e-cigarettes.
Under the new rules, vapes will be sold only in pharmacies and require
"pharmaceutical-type" packaging. Disposable vapes popular with young
people will also be banned.
Though a prescription is needed to buy nicotine vapes in Australia, lax
border enforcement and a thriving illegal market mean they are readily
available in convenience stores and other outlets.
Major vape manufacturer Philip Morris [15](PM.N) welcomed the crackdown
on such shops.
"Nicotine vaping products sold in corner stores have always been
illegal," a spokesperson for the company said.
"We have been urging enforcement against these illegal products for
several years and hope this will now happen."
Butler said vaping had become a recreational product in Australia,
mostly sold to teenagers and young people, who are three times as
likely to take up smoking.
Saleswoman holds e-cigarette at Vape Shop in Beijing
A saleswoman holds an e-cigarette as she demonstrates vaping at the
Vape Shop that sells e-cigarette products in Beijing, China January 30,
2019. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
"This is a product targeted at our kids, sold alongside lollies and
chocolate bars," Butler said. "Vaping has now become the number one
behavioural issue in high schools. And it's becoming widespread in
primary schools as well."
TOUGH ON SMOKING
Doctors backed the vaping crackdown but urged the government to do more
to limit the number of young people taking it up.
"Nicotine vaping products are being sold featuring colourful flavours
and we have even seen products featuring the same type of imagery as
children's breakfast cereal including cartoon characters," said Nicole
Higgins, president of the Royal Australian College of General
Practitioners.
About 22% of Australians aged 18-24 have used an e-cigarette or vaping
device at least once, data last year showed.
The federal budget, due out next week, will include A$234 million ($155
million) for measures to protect against the harm caused by tobacco and
vaping.
Australia has one of the toughest anti-smoking laws in the world.
In 2012, it became the first country to force cigarette producers to
abandon distinct, colourful branding and sell their products in
uniformly drab packets.
Tobacco firms were quick to switch to e-cigarettes that offer different
flavours and created designs targeting a new generation of users.
Butler said the government had no plan to follow neighbouring New
Zealand in banning cigarette sales for [16]future generations but said
the tax on tobacco would be raised by 5% a year over the next three
years in a bid to curb sales.
[17]Some countries have tried to restrict vaping and some see it as a
good way to get smokers to kick the habit.
Britain said in April up to one million smokers would be encouraged to
[18]swap cigarettes for vapes, in what was a world first, offering
financial incentives for pregnant women and providing e-cigarette
starter kits to help.
Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Sonali Paul
(BUTTON)
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Our Standards: [19]The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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