It was reported on Tuesday that the Australian government will introduce a series of regulatory measures in the next few weeks to comprehensively crack down on e-cigarettes. The government accused tobacco companies of deliberately targeting young people and spreading e-cigarettes among teenagers and even primary school students.
According to foreign media, the latest survey data shows that 1/6 of Australian teenagers aged 14-17 have smoked e-cigarettes; E-cigarettes. In order to curb this trend, the Australian government will strictly regulate e-cigarettes.
Australia’s control measures against e-cigarettes include the proposed ban on the import of over-the-counter e-cigarettes, the ban on the sale of e-cigarettes in retail stores, the sale of e-cigarettes only in pharmacies, and the packaging must be similar to drug packaging, including the taste of e-cigarettes, the color of the outer packaging, nicotine, etc. Concentrations and amounts of ingredients will be limited. In addition, the government intends to completely ban the sale of disposable e-cigarettes. Specific restrictions will be further confirmed in the May budget.
In fact, before this, the Australian government clearly stipulated that you must have a prescription to legally buy e-cigarettes from pharmacists. However, due to weak industry supervision, the black market for e-cigarettes is booming, which makes more and more urban teenagers buy e-cigarettes through retail stores or illegally. The channel uses electronic cigarettes.
In order to support the above e-cigarette regulatory measures and tobacco reform, the Australian government plans to allocate 234 million Australian dollars (about 1.08 billion yuan) in the federal budget announced in May.
It is worth noting that while over-the-counter e-cigarettes are completely banned, Australia still supports the use of legal prescription e-cigarettes to assist smokers to quit traditional cigarettes, and provides more convenience for these smokers. E-cigarettes can be purchased with a prescription without FDA approval.
In addition to a comprehensive crackdown on e-cigarettes, Australian Minister of Health Butler also announced on the same day that Australia will increase tobacco taxes by 5% year by year for three consecutive years starting from September 1 this year. At present, the price of a pack of cigarettes in Australia is about 35 Australian dollars (about 161 yuan), which is much higher than the tobacco price level in countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States.
Post time: May-05-2023
