Sarah Game MLC introduces groundbreaking Bill into South Australian Parliament

Posted on November 4, 2022 By Colin

SARAH GAME MLC has introduced Australia’s first parliamentary bill to correct Australia’s flawed prescription-only vaping model.

Speech in the South Australian Parliament 3 November 2022

The Controlled Substances (Nicotine) Amendment Bill 2022 aims to allow adult smokers in South Australia to purchase regulated nicotine supplies for vaping from licensed retail outlets without a prescription. She explains

Vapers should not face high barriers, penalties and restrictions to obtain a product that is healthier cheaper, and shown empirically to be successful for smoking cessation

Rather than following the flock, Sarah Game is to be congratulated for putting science before ideology. Vaping is Australia's most popular and most effective quitting aid, yet current regulations have reduced access, created a thriving black market and led to skyrocketing youth smoking rates.

The current model is unworkable and reduces access to a lifesaving product. As she states,

The only way to eliminate a black market is to replace it with a regulated and legal one

The proposed law would bring South Australia into line with other western countries such as New Zealand and the United Kingdom where similar laws are having great success.

Let’s hope that other Parliamentarians in South Australia are willing to consider this evidence-based proposal and will support this Bill. Hopefully other Australian states will follow.

Postscript

The motion has been adjourned as other parties seek further information, and will deferred until 2023.

Hansard

Read Sarah's full speech on Hansard here