No. Under the regulations, it will be illegal for retail stores to sell vapes. The only way to legally buy them will be through pharmacies with a prescription, meaning it will put an end to recreational vaping.
Billed as the country's largest anti-smoking reforms in a decade, Australia announced on Tuesday it will ban single-use disposable vapes, halt imports of non-prescription versions, and restrict how much nicotine e-cigarettes may contain. Australia has long been at the vanguard of attempts to stamp out smoking.
You can legally purchase e-liquids without nicotine in NSW. It is legal to use e-cigarettes with e-liquid containing nicotine and you can vape in indoor and outdoor smoke free zones. The use of e-cigarettes with e-liquid containing nicotine with a valid prescription is legal.
Vaping really does help smokers quit
For decades we worked to reduce smoking rates through health policy and taxes. Countries with regulated sales of vaping products are seeing great success in rapidly reducing tobacco use – which in Australia kills over 20,000 people a year. Nobody dies from vaping.
Schedule 4 substances are referred to as 'restricted substances' as per the Poisons Act 1971 (TAS). It is illegal for a person to have a nicotine vaping product in ones' possession, without a prescription, as per section 36. A maximum penalty of a $6,850 fine or 2-years imprisonment is applicable.
ACT. It's illegal in the ACT to smoke or vape behind the wheel on the road, or in a road-related area, if anyone younger than 16 is present in the car. The laws came into effect in 2012, and if you challenged the on-the-spot fine ($250 at the time), you could have been fined $5500 if found guilty in court.
NSW Health can prosecute retailers for selling e-cigarette and e-liquid products that contain nicotine. From 1 October 2021 penalties increased. The maximum penalty is $1,650 or 6 months prison, or both.
Preston says the surge in Australian vapers is disappointing given the federal government, in 2021, already banned the possession and sale of all (non-prescription) electronic cigarettes containing nicotine. The ban meant only vapes that do not contain nicotine could be sold over-the-counter.
In 2020–21, use of e-cigarettes was highest among persons aged 16-24 years, for both ever use (32.7%) and current use (11.1%). Males were more likely than females to have ever used e-cigarettes (37.4% compared to 27.7%).
However, a single e-cigarette can be harmful to the body's blood vessels — even when the vapor is entirely nicotine-free — according to a new study by researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
1: Vaping is less harmful than smoking, but it's still not safe. E-cigarettes heat nicotine (extracted from tobacco), flavorings and other chemicals to create an aerosol that you inhale. Regular tobacco cigarettes contain 7,000 chemicals, many of which are toxic.
It is illegal to import, buy or sell vape or e-liquid without a valid permit or prescription. Heavy penalties, including fines and imprisonments apply. This articles outlines the laws around vaping and electronic cigarettes in Australia.
A doctor's prescription or authorisation is required in order to import these goods under the Personal Importation Scheme, and similarly a consultation with a doctor will be necessary in order to access these goods in Australia under the Special Access Scheme or the Authorised Prescriber Scheme.
E-cigarettes are often marketed as a way to quit smoking but there isn't enough evidence to support this. In Australia, it is illegal to sell or buy nicotine for use in e-cigarettes. You cannot purchase nicotine vaping products without a prescription.
What laws regulate vaping? In Queensland, vaping falls under the same laws as tobacco and cigarettes. You can't vape anywhere smoking is banned, and it's illegal to sell vapes to anybody under 18. And e-cigarettes can't be advertised or displayed in shops.
They breathe in addictive nicotine and dozens of dangerous chemicals. Research suggests that vaping may affect the way cells in the respiratory tract (nose, throat and lungs) react to germs and may increase the chance of disease and infection from bacterial and virus, like the virus that causes COVID-19.
More males than females reported e-cigarette use (40.0% vs 31.3%) and cigarette smoking (4.4% vs 2.9%). Also, more males (4.1%) than females (2.5%) reported dual use of both cigarettes and e-cigarettes.
Young children increasingly exposed to vaping harms in NSW
Smoking rates are falling, hitting 8 per cent late last year — the lowest level for the country on record, and half what they were a decade prior. But there has been a surge in vaping, with 15 per cent of those aged 18-24 vaping daily.
National youth vaping rates are higher than previously thought and those with friends who vape are most susceptible, according to a study published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health.
It is not illegal to possess or use a vaporiser (without nicotine) in all states and territories of Australia. However, it is illegal to sell a vaporiser in Western Australia. In some other states, there are restrictions on the sale of vaporisers that resemble cigarettes.
Like most electronic devices, vapes contain lithium batteries which are potential fire hazards. Therefore, it can't be stored in the hold luggage of a plane and must be taken in carry-on baggage.
Australian Law Allows You to Import NZ Vape Juice for Personal Use. The reason why you can ship nicotine e-liquid from New Zealand to Australia is because the law allows you to import a limited supply of nicotine for personal use.
According to the TGA, a 3-month supply is determined "at the maximum dose recommended by the manufacturer" Using this rule we would determine in most cases on average a 3 month supply would be 12 x 30ml bottles or 360ml total of Nicotine E-liquid.
Vaping products like vaporiser nicotine, liquid nicotine and electronic cigarettes are not tobacco. If you are importing liquid nicotine for use in e-cigarettes or for 'vaping', that does not contain tobacco, you will not require a tobacco import permit.