eCigarettes and Nicotine prescriptions
STATEMENT
The Government’s introduction of further restrictions to access to nicotine for eCigarettes doesn’t make sense healthwise and financially.
No other country has a similar prescription model for nicotine for vaping.
Approximately 500,000 Australians choose to vape as it is healthier than ordinary smoking and seen as a step to weaning themselves off smoking altogether.
Research has shown that increased regulation and inconvenience to accessing nicotine for eCigarettes may push ex-smokers back to cigarettes and vapers toward the nicotine black market.
Requiring a doctor’s prescription to access nicotine for eCigarettes increases costs for the consumer and also places a further burden on the health system through Medicare and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
For example, if vapers attend four GP visits annually to acquire prescriptions, the taxpayer will be funding two million visits. Also, as prescription medicines are GST free, the Government will lose further revenue with this model.
The decision to tighten regulation also is questionable in that similar prescriptions are not required for nicotine patches, nasal sprays and nicotine gum.
It is also clear that those Australians who least can afford it will bear the additional costs of the latest restrictions.
One Nation has long supported the legalisation of vaping as an option to reduce harmful smoking.
