If you would like to be examined by an Australian doctor who is a licensed nicotine prescriber, you can start here. Under the National Therapeutic Products Act of 1989, it is illegal to sell e-cigarettes that make health claims, such as “This product helps smokers quit.” The Therapeutic Goods Administration has not approved e-cigarettes as nicotine replacement therapy to help smokers quit. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has also recommended that e-cigarettes not be advertised as a safe alternative to smoking. States and territories administer laws governing the sale, age limits for purchasing, displaying and advertising vaping products, and using them in public places. There are severe penalties for acquiring, using and/or possessing liquid nicotine unless prescribed by a doctor to help you quit smoking or reduce smoking. The lack of penalties for importing nicotine vaping products from abroad without a prescription used to be a “loophole.” For example, some vaping laws can only impose a fine, such as: In South Australia, it is illegal to sell or possess nicotine vaping liquid without a prescription, as described in the Controlled Substances Act (SA) 1984. For more information, see the tobacco and e-cigarette retail laws in New South Wales. Retailers in Western Australia cannot sell e-cigarettes even without nicotine under the Tobacco Products Control Act 2006 (WA). As of October 1, 2021, all nicotine vaping products are prescription drugs in all Australian states and territories.
It is illegal to import, buy or sell vaping or e-liquid without a valid permit or prescription. Severe penalties apply, including fines and imprisonment. This article describes the laws surrounding vaping and e-cigarettes in Australia. A maximum penalty of $10,000 applies to those who use, sell, supply, prescribe or purchase nicotine vaping liquid without the appropriate authorization under section 27. You can legally import nicotine from abroad to help you quit smoking or reduce your tobacco use under the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) Personal Importation Program. You can bring 3 months of supplies for personal use at a time, up to a total of 15 months of supplies per year. The law requires you to have a prescription from a registered Australian doctor. You must email a copy of your recipe to the seller so that it can be returned with your order. Keep the script at home or as a photo on your phone if necessary. However, the TGA warns that there may be risks when importing nicotine from foreign suppliers, as quality cannot be guaranteed. It is ILLEGAL to obtain liquid nicotine in Australia without a prescription. Buying illegal nicotine “under the counter” is strongly discouraged.
There is no guarantee of quality or safety of the product, or that the liquid is what it claims to be. It is also a criminal offense under state law. The federal government and the Therapeutic Products Administration have justified this change by the significant increase in the use of nicotine e-cigarettes and other nicotine vaping products by youth and the associated health risks. If you think a retailer other than a pharmacy sells nicotine-containing e-cigarettes, please report this to NSW Health or call the Tobacco Information Line on 1800 357 412. The information gathered will help guide the enforcement of tobacco and e-cigarette retail laws by New South Wales health inspectors. Since the beginning of 2022, NSW Health has seized more than $1 million worth of e-cigarettes and nicotine-containing liquids. Another option is to consult a doctor when you enter Australia, but this means that you cannot import nicotine when entering Australia. You should also be aware that many Australian doctors may not be willing to provide a prescription. E-cigarettes are not without risk.
They can expose users and passers-by to chemicals and toxins such as propylene glycol, glycerin or ethylene glycol, which have adverse health effects and can increase the risk of cardiovascular, cancerous and respiratory diseases. E-liquids or vaping can also contain potentially harmful chemicals that are not present in tobacco cigarette smoke.1 Western Australia is one of the strictest states with vaping laws in Australia. In Western Australia, regulations for e-cigarettes fall under the Tobacco Products Control Act 2006 and the Medicines and Poisons Act 2014. By law, you are not allowed to sell a product that is not a tobacco product, but looks like a tobacco product or packaging. Unfortunately, due to this law, e-cigarettes with or without nicotine cannot be sold in Western Australia. You can still buy e-cigarettes and e-liquids online from suppliers in other states and have them shipped to WA. The use of vapes and e-liquids is legal with or without nicotine in Western Australia and there are no controls around vaping in non-smoking areas, so you are legally free to vape wherever you want unless the owner of the premises prohibits vaping. Throughout Australia, it was and is illegal for retailers, including tobacconists, vape stores and convenience stores, to sell nicotine vaping products to consumers, even if they have a valid doctor`s prescription. Although the Tasmanian Department of Health “strongly advises” against the use of nicotine vaping, this is allowed with a prescription. However, you can commit a criminal offence if you take possession of imported nicotine, do not have a prescription and do not meet the requirements of the TGA`s personal importation regime (above). Below are the laws and penalties for illegally buying e-liquids online in Australia.
Let`s dive into the laws of each of Australia`s states and territories regarding the legality of vapes, e-liquids and e-cigarettes. Tasmania is the only national jurisdiction that requires pharmacies to hold a license to stock nicotine vaping products. You should only import what you reasonably think you need, but at most, Quit Clinics recommends bringing no more than 90 pods to Australia, OR 500ml of e-liquid. The Western Australian Department of Health has seized more than 16,000 nicotine vaping products in the past three years. The CWA enacted regulations in 2017 that now apply the same restrictions to e-cigarette products as it does to tobacco products. The laws state that you cannot sell e-cigarette products to children under the age of 18, you cannot advertise e-cigarettes in stores, and you must keep them out of sight. They also can`t vape in smoke-free areas. The sale and supply of e-cigarettes is legal, the use of nicotine-containing vaporizers is legal, and you can still import nicotine from abroad. In Australia, drugs and poisons are listed in the poison standard and are divided into categories called schedules, which determine how they are regulated. Nicotine, along with arsenic and strychnine, is classified as a “dangerous poison” on List 7. Exceptions to this classification are nicotine in smoking tobacco and medical nicotine replacement products.
The importation, attempted importation and possession of nicotine vaping products without a prescription classify them as “prohibited imports”. 1. In October 2021, the definition of nicotine in Schedule 4 of the Poison Standard was amended to include all nicotine-based vaping products as prescription drugs. Electronic cigarette devices and liquids that do not contain nicotine may be sold and purchased in the ATT, but only through licensed tobacco retailers. Unfortunately, most consumers feel compelled to import nicotine illegally without a prescription or buy it on the unregulated black market. Inspectors take compliance and enforcement actions and visit tobacco and vaping retailers to verify that products containing liquid nicotine are being sold, including to people under the age of 18. Nicotine for vaping can only be legally purchased in Australia from a pharmacy. However, the majority of Australian pharmacies do not sell nicotine vaping products or, if they do, they have limited options. The majority of Australian vapers import nicotine purchased from overseas online vaping retailers. If you`re considering vaping in Australia, the best option is to have a prescription before landing and import your personal supplies from a supplier you already know and trust. Queensland has some of Australia`s strictest vaping laws.
E-cigarettes are considered smoking products under the Tobacco and Other Smoking Products Act 1998.