Smoking laws: Australia declares WAR on vapes and cigarettes

A planned new crackdown for smokers and vapers aims to make the habit even tougher to continue amid growing concerns about the rapid rise of e-cigarettes and underage users. 

The popularity of vaping has surged in the past year, especially in teenagers, with numbers doubling among 16-24 year olds in just 12 months.

Queensland has stopped short of proposing a New Zealand-style total ban in its overhaul of smoking laws, but is bringing in harsher legislation.

The Kiwis have unveiled new legislation to ban young people from ever buying cigarettes in a rolling scheme to make the entire nation of five million smoke-free.

People aged 14 and under in 2027 will never be allowed to buy cigarettes in their lifetime under Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s radical new laws.

Queensland’s health minister Yvette D’Ath decided against a similar blanket ban in her new proposed raft of tobacco law reforms.

But shops will need to apply for a licence to sell cigarettes or vapes under the planned legislation. 

Smoking will also be outlawed in outdoor markets and school car parks, and children and drinkers will be banned from smoking areas in pubs and clubs.

Retail workers under 18 would be prohibited from selling tobacco, and cigarette machines would be hidden behind the bar in pubs and clubs.

Healthcare for smokers in the state costs about $27billion a year, Ms D’Ath says, while nationwide, the ever-increasing tax on cigarettes brings in just $17billion.

One in 10 Queenslanders smoke every day, with about 12 per cent of deaths in the state caused by smoking-related illnesses, according to government figures.

Queensland has stopped short of proposing a New Zealand-style total ban in its overhaul of smoking laws but is still bringing in tougher legislation

Almost seven per cent of 12 to 17-year-olds smoke every day, while 16 per cent of secondary school students have used a vape.

The Queensland health minister feared young people believed e-cigarettes and vaping were a ‘healthy alternative’ to cigarettes.

‘You are actually breathing in dangerous chemicals, some of those chemicals are known to be carcinogenic, into your lungs,’ Ms D’Ath said.

In NSW, statistics also show more young people are taking up vaping, despite the number of daily smokers continuing to fall.

People over the age of 16 lighting up daily fell one per cent to 8.2 per cent in 2021, with almost one in four NSW residents now an ex-smoker, according to new data. 

But while the number of smokers has dropped, the use of vapes or e-cigarettes among young people has rocketed, with one in 10 now vaping.

The 2021 NSW Population Health survey showed twice as many people aged 16 to 24 vaped last year compared with the previous year.

‘This is a worrying trend for our young people because vapes can contain many harmful chemicals and toxins, even if they are nicotine free,’ Dr Chant said.

‘We know vapes can harm your health in the short-term, but the long-term effects are largely unknown.’

The popularity of vaping has surged in the past year, especially in teens, with numbers doubling among 16-24 year olds in just 12 months

She said the growth of vaping has the potential to undermine decades of tobacco-control work in Australia, and begged youngsters to stop.

Children who experimented with vaping were three times more likely to take up cigarettes, with products heavily marketed through social media, she said.

Quitting is one of the most important things a person can do for their health, Dr Chant explained.

‘It will reduce your risk of 16 different types of cancer, coronary heart disease, stroke and other debilitating conditions,’ she said.

‘Concerningly, people put off quitting because they think they will be able to quit before the damage is done. But every single cigarette smoked is doing damage.’

Queensland Cancer Council backed the new proposals over its concerns about the dramatic rise in popularity of vaping among youngsters.

‘We’re receiving more and more calls, particularly from parents, about the rise of e-cigarette use among children and young people,’ said QCC’s James Farrell.

He called for more research into vaping use and a greater focus on the regulation of emerging products to ‘keep keeping young people safe from e-cigarettes’.

‘The regulations haven’t really caught up with the emerging product. We don’t understand the long-term health implications of them,’ he said. 

New Zealand’s incoming age-related lifelong ban on smoking only applies to cigarettes, and does not include vaping.

One key reason for the sudden drop in NZ smoking numbers over the last two years is vaping, says Australian expert Dr Colin Mendelsohn (pictured)

Australian expert Dr Colin Mendelsohn, author of the book Stop Smoking, Start Vaping, says New Zealand has successfully encouraged vaping as an alternative to smoking. 

And the change in attitude has coincided with a massive decline in the number of smokers, he says.

‘More kids are vaping,’ he admitted. ‘But they don’t progress to smoking.

‘That’s what going to kill them – smoking. Vaping for a few years isn’t. We don’t want them to vape, but it’s not a gateway into smoking. It’s actually a gateway out.’

He echoed the call for innovative new approaches to tackling smoking. 

‘We’ve gone as far as we can with traditional tobacco control methods and the fact that smoking rates aren’t falling any further means it’s not enough,’ he said. 

The proposals come as new research shows most Australians back a total ban on cigarette sales, with just 16.1 per cent believing that would be ‘a bad thing’.

More than half, 50.8 per cent, supported a phase-out, and an overwhelming majority of 61.8 per cent said it should happen within the next decade.

 The cost of cigarettes in Australia is soaring, with an average packet costing $40

The national survey by the Cancer Council also revealed 75.3 per cent supported stricter licensing regulations for retailers.

Director of Quit Victoria Dr Sarah White says she expects fewer retailers to stock cigarettes regardless of any ban.

‘The market might just get to a point where the retailers say, “There’s not enough people buying these products, it’s something I have to lock away, it costs me a lot to keep under my counter, we might just give it away”,’ she said.

‘I’ve talked to quite a few retailers who are saying they’re not sure whether they want to stay in the business because it’s not very profitable for them.’ 

Australia has most expensive cigarettes in the world, with a typical 25-pack of Marlboro costing $48.95. 

Anyone who smokes a pack a day will be shelling out about $18,000 a year to feed their habit.

This has led to a surge in the black market tobacco as organised crime syndicates flood the Australian market with cheap smokes.

The illegal tobacco trade is worth about $600 million annually, according to Border Force, but Queensland health authorities believe the overhauled laws will help combat the trade.

Ms D’Ath added: ‘We’re taking this important step to ensure that illicit operators know that there’s nowhere to hide, and they’ll be caught if they do the wrong thing.’