Tasmania moves to tighten vape laws

The Tasmanian Government has revealed plans to rebel against upcoming national vaping laws, with the state’s Health Minister saying the Federal Government has ‘watered down’ legislation.
 
Under the new federal laws, from 1 October, adults will be able to buy vapes from pharmacies without a prescription, while under 18s will still need a script.
 
These scaled back rules follow Federal Government laws which kicked in on 1 July, banning vape products being sold outside of pharmacies with patients requiring a prescription.
 
Until 1 October, patients will need a GP prescription to buy a vape, before they become Schedule 3 medications. 
 
But the Tasmanian Government says the new laws ‘do not go far enough’ to protect children and young people from the harms of vaping.
 
Legislation will be introduced into Tasmanian Parliament in the coming weeks to ban the sale of vape products for children and young people under 18 years, with or without a prescription, and
ensure the products can only be supplied by pharmacies to people 18 years or over with a prescription.
 
While the RACGP supports measures to minimise harm, particularly the risk of harm for young people using vapes, and supported the Federal Government’s original vaping bill, it is concerned any anomalies to state and federal rules may add to confusion among GPs and other healthcare providers, and patients.
 
RACGP Tasmania Chair Dr Toby Gardner told newsGP the move to upgrade state legislation outside of federal laws is another example of how medicine regimes are becoming increasingly complicated and impacting both patients and GPs.
 
‘It will definitely confuse patients … and probably lead to more frustrated patients when we are unable to prescribe due to complexities involved and being time-poor,’ he said.
 
‘At a time when we’re trying to achieve harmonisation of the Poisons Act nationally, [for example] with ADHD medications, it seems to be a backward step.
 
‘We are under extreme workforce pressure in Tasmania as it is, with appointments booked far in advance – I have no free appointments until January or February.
 
‘Adding another task on to GPs, and it’s definitely not as easy as prescribing morphine or other S8s, is going to further impact access to GP care.’
 
When the national vaping laws were introduced earlier this year, Federal Health and Aged Care Minister Mark Butler said they set ‘a strong and uniform baseline across the country’ and that it was a matter for each state or territory whether they introduce any additional measures.
 
Tasmania’s Health Minister Guy Barnett said the State Government does not support the Federal Government’s legislation and is moving to ban the sale of vapes in a bid to ‘take action to resolve it’.
 
‘It is abundantly clear that the Federal Government’s watered down vaping reforms do not go far enough to protect our children and young people,’ he said.
 
‘They also effectively turn pharmacies into vape shops, with limited clinical oversight.’
 
Flagging the potential for Tasmania’s proposed amended vaping rules impacting access to GP care rather than help to curb vaping numbers, Dr Gardner is also concerned this will open up a market for online prescribing start-ups.
 
‘Much like the cannabis industry, with non-GP doctors moving into this [vaping] space, in essence it will be even more unregulated than having three products sold under-the-counter in a pharmacy,’ he said.
 
‘I don’t think we’ll see vaping numbers drop; patients will either obtain a script online or somehow through the black market. Prohibition doesn’t work obviously, just drives it underground.
 
‘Taxation and plain paper packaging helped drop tobacco use compared to the rest of the world, and we should be celebrating this instead.’
 
Dr Gardner also believes it will be a ‘hard sell’ for the laws to pass through State Parliament with a minority government, with the Liberals either needing the support of the Greens who are opposed to the change, or all of the Lower House’s independents. 
 
Tasmanian independent Senator Tammy Tyrell has already said the State Government’s move will ‘clog up doctors’ appointments Tassie doesn’t have available’ and push people to access ‘dodgy vapes on the black market’ when they are unable to obtain a GP prescription.
 
The Australian Greens backed away from the Federal Government’s previous proposal for all patients to attain a GP prescription for vapes to avoid a prohibition model, before they struck a deal to reach the national laws.
 
The RACGP’s Smoking cessation guidelines supports the Federal Government’s vaping laws for people who continue to require a prescription, and advocates for a medical approach to support people who want help to quit nicotine to seek evidence-based advice from their GP.
 
The college guidelines recommend vapes only as a second line aid for quitting after people have tried other options, such as nicotine patches, and should only be a short-term treatment.
 
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