Page 1171 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 4 May 2022
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Today’s amendments will ensure that the fundamentals of vaping products regulation are in place as we grapple with the broader impacts of such products. The changes will modernise the act to ensure that all smoking products are able to be captured in compliance work.
Adolescent brains are highly vulnerable to nicotine addiction, and the use of smoking products can lead to a lifetime of dependency, as well as exposing the young user to the short- and long-term health risks of vaping or smoking. In April 2022 the Australian National University published the first global systematic review that has been conducted on the evidence of the health effects of e-cigarettes.
The review found that the use of e-cigarettes is increasing and is greatest in young people in Australia. The review found strong evidence that non-smokers who use e-cigarettes are three times more likely to go on to smoke combustible tobacco cigarettes than those who do not use e-cigarettes. This finding supports concerns about a gateway effect, with initial e-cigarette use escalating to tobacco use. The ANU’s findings underscore the importance of ensuring that there are appropriate regulatory mechanisms in place to prevent minors from accessing e-cigarettes.
The other key change to the Tobacco and Other Smoking Products Act also relates to e-cigarettes. In October 2021 the commonwealth made changes to the scheduling and availability of nicotine vaping products to support their use as a smoking cessation aid. In practice, this means ACT pharmacies are increasingly filling prescriptions for nicotine vaping products.
Under section 67(1) of the Tobacco and Other Smoking Products Act, a pharmacy commits an offence if it obtains nicotine vaping products from a supplier who is not a licensed tobacco wholesaler. To ensure that these products can be safely supplied to and dispensed by pharmacies, the bill provides that the section 67(1) offence does not apply to a pharmacy when they obtain nicotine vaping products that are medicines.
This approach will facilitate pharmacies to undertake their role as medicine suppliers. The model of care provided in community pharmacies is considered more likely to be conducive to smoking cessation, as there is an opportunity for counselling and support from trained pharmacists. This is as opposed to online sales of nicotine vaping products, where there are limited regulatory controls and limited opportunities for meaningful engagement with primary healthcare providers. In effect, the change removes unnecessary red tape for community pharmacies and for pharmaceuticals provider participation in the regulated sale of nicotine vaping products.
The bill also augments the ability for the Therapeutic Goods Administration to support the regulation of e-cigarette and vaping products. The bill adds a new section to the Medicines, Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Act. The new section, 157(3), extends commonwealth therapeutic goods laws so that they apply to a person who is not a corporation within the ACT.
This change expands existing authorisations for the Therapeutic Goods Administration under medicines and poisons laws in the ACT. In addition to the
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