Australia will become the first country to restrict vape sales to pharmacies from next week. This new policy represents a very different approach to the path Aotearoa New Zealand is taking, and includes some important steps. First, it recognises that to benefit population health, vaping products should not be treated as everyday consumer items.
Second, it introduces a distribution system that moves away from the commercial, profit-driven approach currently operating in New Zealand. Pharmacists are highly trained health professionals. Unlike general retailers who are not trained to understand addiction, pharmacists can advise people transitioning from smoking to vaping and support vaping cessation.
Third, pharmacists’ comprehensive code of ethics provides a further incentive to avoid supplying vaping products to underage people. Our research with young people found they quickly identified “ dodgy dairies ” with lax age verification procedures. Unlike these outlets, pharmacists would face professional sanctions if caught supplying underage youth.
So, should New Zealand adopt Australia’s approach? Limiting the supply of vaping products is a key measure in reducing uptake among young people. However, we are troubled that Australia will be regulating vaping products more stringently than smoked tobacco, which causes more serious physical harms. New Zealand’s government has signalled stricter regulation of vaping products, yet it recently repealed a law regulating smoked .
