The Tasmanian Government will take strong action to stamp out vaping with nation-leading reforms to significantly reduce the use and uptake of e-cigarettes, particularly among young people.
Legislation will be introduced to Parliament in the coming weeks that will:
Minister for Health, Mental Health, and Wellbeing, Guy Barnett, said the Tasmanian Government has stepped up where the Federal Government has failed to protect the community from the harms of vaping, especially our children and young people.
“Under our 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania’s Future we want Tasmania to be the healthiest and happiest place it can possibly be, and these strong reforms to stamp out vaping are another important step to achieving this,” Minister Barnett said.
“It is abundantly clear that the Federal Government’s watered down vaping reforms do not go far enough to protect our children and young people.
“They also effectively turn pharmacies into vape shops, with limited clinical oversight.
“We do not agree with the Federal Government’s legislation, and we are taking action to resolve it.
“We have worked closely with relevant stakeholders who are seeing the impacts of vaping on our community, and I thank them for their input into these strong preventative health measures.”
Minister Barnett said the reforms will complement our existing and ongoing initiatives that are helping people who smoke to quit, whilst continuing to encourage young people to remain smoke and vape free.
“We are continuing to work with QUIT Tasmania to provide more education and support for people who want to reduce or quit smoking and vaping, and our new Vaping, e-learning package has been rolled out across all schools in Tasmania,” Minister Barnett said.
“Our multi-faceted approach to stamp out vaping is both reducing access and increasing education to prevent the uptake, with the community to benefit as a result.”
