Victorian Parliament Inquiry into Vaping. Submissions now due
Posted on March 19, 2024 By Colin
THE VICTORIAN PARLIAMENT INQUIRY INTO VAPING can recommend legislative changes to end the current, failed prescription-pharmacy model that has handed control of the market to criminal gangs. The Victorian Parliament can and should replace it with a strictly regulated adult consumer model.
Please make your submission before the deadline next week, on Friday 29 March 2024.
My submission
My submission to the Inquiry can be accessed here. The executive summary states:
"Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death and disability in Victoria and is a leading cause of financial inequality. Vaping is the most popular and most effective quitting aid available and has the potential to substantially reduce smoking rates and improve public health.
The current prohibitive, prescription-only, regulatory model for nicotine vaping products (NVPs) has failed to achieve its goals. It has been rejected by doctors, pharmacists, and the general public and has helped create a thriving illicit market controlled by criminal networks. The illicit market supplies 90% of the vaping market with unregulated products and sells products freely to young people. It has led to escalating criminal activity.
An evidence-based approach to vaping policy is to make nicotine vaping products available as adult consumer products sold from licensed retail outlets with strict age verification, like tobacco and alcohol, as is the case in all other Western democracies. This will enable adult smokers to legally access regulated products, reduce access to young people, largely eliminate the illicit market and criminal activity, and generate appropriate taxation returns.
Vaping is here to stay whether we like it or not. 430,000 Victorian adults now vape and the number continues to increase. The Victorian Parliament must decide whether to allow the current failed model to continue under criminal control or to take control and regulate the market. Public opinion is strongly in favour of regulating NVPs like tobacco and alcohol.
The Victorian Parliament can make legislative changes to allow this regulated model to replace the current failed policy."
The terms of reference
The Inquiry is focused on four issues. You can respond to one or more of these.
- Trends in vaping and tobacco use and the associated financial, health, social and environmental impacts on the Victorian community
- The causes and repercussions of the illicit tobacco and e-cigarette industry in Victoria including impacts on the Victorian justice system, and effective control options
- The adequacy of the State and Commonwealth legislation, regulatory and administrative frameworks to minimise harm from illicit tobacco and e-cigarettes compared to other Australian and international jurisdictions
- The effectiveness of current public health measures to prevent and reduce the harm of tobacco use and vaping in Victoria and potential reforms
Submissions can be uploaded here.
My submission
Mendelsohn CP. Submission to Victorian Parliament vaping and tobacco inquiry 12March2024