New vaping laws allow chemists to sell vapes to adults over counter while kids under 18 will need prescription

Vapes will be sold only through pharmacies with people under 18 banned from buying them unless they have a prescription under a new deal about to become law.

The electronic cigarettes will be in plain packaging and regulated and a doctor’s prescription will be the only way someone under the age of 18 can legally purchase a vape as the government cracks down.

Pharmacists will need to have a conversation with the user, provide information on health harms and offer alternative ways to stop smoking.

People will need to show their ID but pharmacies will not record patients’ data. There will be limitations on the amount of nicotine.

The government’s deal with the Greens clears the way for vaping reforms to pass the Senate.

It stipulates people who illegally use vapes will not face criminal penalties and there will be an eight-month amnesty period for personal possession.

It is set to be illegal for retailers to sell commercial quantities of vapes if they are not pharmacies and extra funding will be provided to help young people quit smoking.

The Greens did not support a blanket prohibition, health spokesman Jordon Steele-John said.

“It’s unacceptable that children have access to flavoured vapes, and vaping products that have been entering Australia are unsafe, falsely labelled and have dangerous unknown ingredients,” he said.

It will be illegal to sell vapes outside of a pharmacy from July 1. Their supply, manufacture and import have also been outlawed.

“These laws protect young Australians and the broader community from the harms of recreational vaping while ensuring that those who really need access to a therapeutic vape for help to quit smoking can get one,” Health Minister Mark Butler said.

The Nationals wanted to treat vapes like cigarettes by taxing and regulating them.

Cigarette regulation, including plain packaging and content control, had reduced youth smoking rates by 80 per cent, Nationals Leader David Littleproud said.

“That’s how we actually attack this and make sure the excise doesn’t go to organised crime but goes back into regional health,” he told Sky News.

“It goes back into education of young people about the harms of nicotine.”

The Australian Medical Association has criticised the Nationals’ push, saying the prescription model had not yet been given a chance.

“All of the laws that have been in the states and territories about not selling vaping products to people under the age of 18 have utterly failed because kids can get them easily, or older people just give them to kids,” President Steve Robson told ABC radio.

“Policies that promote it are just harmful and they’re a false economy and they don’t appreciate that we’ve got a window to do something great and help young Australians.”

The government has made vapes prescription-only and cracked down on their importation as flavoured smoke and colourful packaging attracted and targeted young people.