In October 2021, the Australian government embarked on a journey to mitigate consumption of vaping nationally. This was through introducing prescribed vapes which would not only reduce teen vaping but also largely help adults suffering from cessation. The main intent of the policy was to therefore curb the intake of nicotine through vaping but quite the contrary has been observed in the last year. There has been a double increase in the rate of vape consumption which depicts failure of the regulation against illegal vaping. But why would such an important policy go down the drainage when its only intention is betterment of a great tomorrow for our nation and youth especially?
Well, according to a survey by Roy Morgan, at least 12% of vapers had a prescription for nicotine but only 2% of these vapers had purchased the drug illegally. Roy argues that the above statistics are largely influenced by the limited availability and high cost of legal vapes in the market. Particularly, Roy notes that only specific practitioners are allowed to sell the legal vapes. Sadly, in 2022 only 200 out of a massive 31, 000 general practitioners were approved to sell the prescribed vapes. Given the low number of the practitioners selling the prescribed vape countrywide, and lack of closure of these practitioners to the public, most consumers have no option but to buy the illegal vapes.
The second justification of the failure of the regulation is on cost. Truth be sold, the legal vapers, although safe for consumption, are being sold at a relatively high price. In an attempt of satisfying the existing addicted market and also earn a living, a section of entrepreneurs through partnership with certain countries like China introduced a black market for the vapes. The black markets are known for selling the vapes at a relatively reduced price only that the type of vape being sold is extremely high in nicotine hence dangerous for the consumers. However, the consumers do not seem to have any problem with this considering the low cost of the product and the harsh economic times. In fact, given the withdrawal symptoms that come with not taking the vapes, many young ones especially teens have been forced to get into the black-market world and acquire the vapes as this is what they can afford.
There is no doubt that the Australian government meant well when they introduced the regulation on prescribed vapes. However, banning the illegal vapes without establishing measures that would ensure adoption of the legal vapes, has made it easier for the black market to thrive in the selling of unprescribed vapes. This has also seen an increase of illegal vaping as they are more than ever available at affordable prices. What this implies is that that the society especially the young generation are at risk of endangering their health since they evidently prefer the illegal vapes cause of reasons such as cost effectiveness. The government should therefore rework their strategy as there is a high need for a more realistic regulatory model for nicotine products.
