The ACT Government is cracking down on e-cigarettes in the community with legislative changes to reduce availability and increase enforcement, health minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said.
The Health Legislation Amendment Bill 2022, passed today by the ACT Legislative Assembly, stops the sale of e-cigarettes from vending machines; enables stronger compliance testing to enforce the prohibition on sale of e-cigarettes to people under the age of 18; and extends therapeutic goods laws to enable action to be taken against sole traders.
Ms Stephen-Smith said the ACT Government has a strong commitment to treating alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use as a health issue.
“The government is aiming to minimise the harm caused in our community from smoking and vaping, particularly for young Canberrans.
“Reducing supply is a critical component of minimising harm. Through these legal changes, ACT Government officials will have the ability to check if e-cigarettes are being sold to minors, and to remove the ability for sale through vending machines.”
“Keeping e-cigarettes out of the hands of children and young people is one of the most important public health challenges of our time, and the community is up against powerful commercial interests,” Dr Devin Bowles, CEO of the Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Association ACT (ATODA), said. “ATODA applauds these reforms to help prevent minors accessing e-cigarettes.”
Last week, Ms Stephen-Smith said, she raised at the Health Ministers’ Meeting the importance of a national ambitious approach to addressing the harm from e-cigarettes, and she will continue to advocate for it.
The changes in this legislation will also enable the Therapeutic Goods Administration to take enforcement action against sole traders, in addition to corporations, to ensure that breaches of the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989, including action relating to sales of prohibited goods such as nicotine vaping products/e cigarettes.
The ACT Government will work with all Australian governments on a co-ordinated national approach to significantly reduce the availability of these products.
