“We’ve got to get rid of the shiny packaging, get rid of all of these vapes that are disguised as something else, like USBs and highlighters that they can hide in their pencil cases and in their school bags, and we’ve got to make it harder to get access to these things,” he said.
WITH one in six young people having tried vaping and teachers being used as “de facto vaping police”, the Federal Government will fund a number of measures to stamp out the illegal sale and use of vapes.
Health Minister Mark Butler, who has vowed to crack down on e-cigarettes unless obtained via prescription for legitimate therapeutic use, said the 2023–24 Budget would include $737 million to fund a number of measures to protect Australians against the harm caused by tobacco and vaping products.
He said that vaping was sold to governments around the world as a therapeutic product to help long-term smokers quit, not as a recreational product – “especially not one targeted to our kids but that is what it has become”.
The Government will increase the minimum quality standards for vapes including by restricting flavours, colours, and other ingredients; require pharmaceutical-like packaging; stop the import of non-prescription vapes; and ban all single use, disposable vapes.
Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said parents, teachers and principals are worried about them.
He said students were attracted to the shiny packaging and sweet flavours, and the fact that these things are disguised to look like USBs and highlighters that they can hide in their pencil cases and in their school bags.
He said that 10 years ago, barely any children were using vapes, but now one in six young people have tried them, and some are even trying to “duck out of class to have a vape” – and it must stop.
“Teachers are basically being turned into de facto police, being forced to do search and seizure of school bags to find these things out,” he said.
“Ask any teacher and they’ll tell you that this is a massive issue in their schools that they need to tackle.”
