This warning is especially going to vapers from the UK who may be attending the final this weekend. In the UK vaping products are widely accepted and even encouraged as smoking cessation and tobacco harm reduction tools. Hence travelling vapers may assume that the products may also be freely used down under.
Harsh penalties for violators
Whilst in Australia, penalties for vape-related crimes include up six months in prison and hefty fines of up to $2,200 which would equate to about £1,125. Moreover, anyone caught attempting to import the products could face a penalty of up to $222,000 or approximately £113,600.
In fact, earlier this year three Sydney based companies JL Partners (AUST) Pty Ltd, Wjwing Pty Ltd, and TSJ Logistics Pty Ltd were given fines of $66,600 for illegally importing over 100,000 nicotine vaping products.
Allegedly, the three companies were not registered in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (TGA). The penalty for importing nicotine e-liquid without a prescription is up to $222,000 under the Customs Act 1901. In this case, the unlicensed products were intercepted by the Australian Border Force, seized and destroyed under advice from the TGA.
Meanwhile, while many experts are concerned that unknowing vaping football fans may get in trouble, others worry that those who make the trip and lawfully refrain from vaping, may revert back to smoking after having quit successfully. This would of course spell disaster for such individuals and could possibly be a set back that would take a substantial amount of time to recover from.
Australia’s vape laws are resulting in high smoking rates
In fact in Australia the current harsh vape regulations are reflected in high smoking rates. A 2022 study titled “Impact of vaping introduction on cigarette smoking in six jurisdictions with varied regulatory approaches to vaping: an interrupted time series analysis,” analyzed smoking rates and cigarette consumption in 6 jurisdictions with different regulatory environments for vaping: Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia (in Canada), UK and Australia.
Of these Australia has the harshest vape regulations and subsequently the lowest vaping rates. However it also has the lowest rates of progress with regards to declining smoking rates. In a blog discussing this study, Tobacco Treatment expert Dr. Colin Mendelsohn, reiterated that in Canada and the UK, smoking consumption and smoking rates in young adults declined faster when vaping became available.
Australian Health Minister Seems Set on Setting Even Harsher Vape Bans
