Importing disposable vapes to be banned in Australia from next year

Importing disposable vapes will not be allowed in Australia from January 1 under new rules by the federal government to prevent young people from developing the habit.

It is one of a number of measures set for 2024 aiming to make Australia the first country in the world to restrict vapes containing nicotine to only people with a valid prescription.

Also under the new rules medical and nurse practitioners will be able to prescribe vapes and patients will be able to renew their prescriptions at pharmacies. 

Health Minister Mark Butler is focused on stopping the lucrative black market for vapes which sees millions of the devices sold to young Australian's online or under the-the-counter at some stores.

Laws will also be introduced to prevent the domestic manufacture, advertisement, supply or commercial possession of non-therapeutic and disposable single-use vapes. 

'Vaping was sold to governments and communities around the world as a therapeutic product to help long-term smokers quit,' Mr Butler said.

'It was not sold as a recreational product, especially not one targeted to our kids, but that is what it has become. The great majority of vapes contain nicotine and children are becoming addicted.'

It follows a leading Australian vape advocate saying an urgent overhaul is needed to the government's prohibition approach to regulating vaping across the country, arguing the current approach is leading to China staging a 'reverse opium war'.

Health authorities have routinely called for better regulation of the growing crisis, with NSW Health this month linking a fatal overdose to black market vape juice refills containing an unlabeled opioid.

Federal Health Minister Mark Butler has proposed some of the harshest laws in the world to crack down on unregulated vaping products - handing sweeping powers to states to ban the import of e-cigarette or vape products from next year.

But Legalise Vaping Australia director Brian Marlow claims Mr Butler's actions have 'single-handedly' created 'the largest black market in the history of Australia'.

He claimed more than 100 million illegal unregulated vape products with no ingredient standards had been smuggled into the country from China and sold on the black market.

'For the Albanese government to think they can fix this crisis with a recreational vaping ban on adults and doubling down on the failed prescription-only prohibition model is completely out of touch with reality and community expectations,' Mr Marlow said.

'China is preying on Mark Butler's weakness by using tactics that can only be described as a reverse opium war.'

Mr Marlow claimed there were similar outcomes in Australia to how the US failed with their prohibition on alcohol - an 'out-of-control black market run by criminals selling dangerous unregulated products to whoever will buy them'.

'China regulates their own domestic vaping industry in the same way as they do for alcohol and tobacco; however, the country lets its manufacturers put whatever they want into the unregulated vapes that are destined to be sold illegally in Australia,' Mr Marlow said.

'It is not a coincidence Australia has this out-of-control black market and is the only country in the world to restrict access to nicotine vapes on a prescription-only basis.'

Earlier this month more than 30 tonnes of vapes which falsely claimed to be nicotine-free, were seized by the Australian Border Force and the medical regulator.

In October alone more than 400,000 individual vaping products were seized in a joint campaign between the ABF and the Therapeutic Goods Administration to target air cargo and international mail imports.

About 376,000 items, or 92 per cent of the seized goods, were illegal and at least 68 per cent were disposable vapes from brands that previously failed to meet minimum safety and quality standards.

The haul had an estimated street value of $11 million.