E-cigarette import ban pushed back

MOVES to ban the importation of e-cigarettes containing vaporiser nicotine will not come into force until 01 Jan 2021.

Federal Health Minister, Greg Hunt, announced the decision to delay the import ban, which was originally due to be implemented from 01 Jul (PD 19 Jun), after concerns were raised over the impact it could have on patients using e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation aid.

“Around the world we have seen strong evidence of non-smokers being introduced to nicotine through vaping for the first time,” he said.

“Therefore the Government is responding to the advice by ensuring that nicotine based e-cigarettes can only be imported on the basis of a prescription from a doctor.

“This will help prevent the introduction of non-smokers to nicotine via vaping.

“However there is a second group of people who have been using these e-cigarettes with nicotine as a means to ending their cigarette smoking.

“In order to assist this group in continuing to end that addiction we will therefore provide further time for implementation of the change by establishing a streamlined process for patients obtaining prescriptions through their GP.

“For this reason, the implementation timeframe will be extended by six months to 01 Jan 2021.

“People should always be consulting their GP on these health matters and ensuring this is the right product for them.”

Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (SHPA) Vice President, and University of South Australia Pharmacy Lecturer, Dr Jacinta Johnson, was among those to express concerns over the ban, and called on the Pharmacy Guild of Australia and the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia to investigate the role pharmacists could play in supporting patients to access compounded nicotine liquid as a harm minimisation measure, to prevent patients from returning to cigarette smoking (PD 24 Jun).