Australia versus e-cigarettes: ban them again!

It's difficult to keep up with all of Australia's bans on e-cigarettes. Readers might correct me in the comments, but if my memory is correct, vapes containing nicotine have always been banned from sale. 

Smokers still stubbornly sought them out to help them quit smoking, so naturally the government banned the importation of vapes that contain nicotine. They could only be obtained with a prescription from a doctor, but since doctors are so ignorant about vaping that one of them gave his child cigarettes to get him off vapes, not many prescriptions were written.

Not unpredictably, prohibition created a big black market and didn't work. Hilariously, more teenagers have tried vaping in Australia, where e-cigarettes have always been banned and the media is in a constant state of hysteria about them, than they have in Britain where they are advertised, given away by the government to smokers for free and legal (though not for children).

Today, the government doubled down once more, banning (non-nicotine) disposable vapes completely and introducing plain packaging for e-cigarettes that are permitted with a prescription. There will also be a ban on flavours and colours of the medically approved products.

 

The Public Health Association of Australia’s CEO, Terry Slevin, described vaping as a “public health disaster”. He said the reforms would see Australia re-establish itself as a world leader in tobacco and vaping control.

 

Australia is not a leader in tobacco or vaping control. It is an international laughing stock that has created a massive unforced error and is too proud - or too stupid - to back down.  

 

“The ubiquitous and aggressive marketing of vaping products, particularly to children, is a worldwide scourge,” he said.

Vaping products are not marketed in Australia, aggressively or otherwise, and they never have been. The government can't control the black market, but it can control the media. This guy is in a world of his own.

 

The government is now going to spend $234 million to fund its "tobacco and vaping reforms", including $63 million on "an evidence-based public health information campaign" (stop laughing at the back). The health minister Mark Butler sounds like a particularly dopey individual. In a speech today, he said: 

 

"Just like they did with smoking, Big Tobacco has taken another addictive product, wrapped it in shiny packaging and added flavours to create a new generation of nicotine addicts."

 

My sympathy goes out to my Australian friends, but there really is no hope for you when your politicians live in a parallel universe, cosplaying the 1950s. Needless to say, 'Big Tobacco' is not selling illegal vapes in Australia.

Oh, and he's also going to increase the tax on cigarettes by 5% every year for the next three years just in case the black market for tobacco needs a helping hand. After all, the Australian Border Force only detected 879 tons of loose-leaf tobacco and 713 million cigarettes in 2021, and their biggest seizure last month was worth a mere $48 million.

Way to guy, fellas! This is totally normal...