Penalties for illegal vape supply in New South Wales are set to rocket.
Legislation introduced to parliament this week will see fines rise from $1,650 to approximately $1.54 million. As well, prison sentences will increase from six months to seven years.
“The prevalence of illegal vaping devices in our community, and in particular our young people, is deeply concerning,” health minister Ryan Park said. “And I am pleased to announce that we are augmenting our efforts by introducing harsher penalties to target suppliers.”
If passed, NSW will have overtaken Queensland as the jurisdiction with the harshest vape penalties in Australia. In September, Queensland passed legislation that introduced penalties of up to two years in prison and fines of up to $1.6 million.
Added to the NSW legislation are the offences of possession of commercial quantities of vaping products and retailer possession of vaping products.
The NSW legislation aligns with Commonwealth laws which, from 1 July 2024, changed to stipulate that all vapes and vaping products – regardless of whether they contain nicotine or not – can only be sold in a pharmacy for the purpose of helping people quit smoking or manage nicotine dependence.
As part of the NSW government’s crackdown on illegal vapes, more than 300,000 products were siezed over the past year. “I am very encouraged by the progress we are making in terms of removing these harmful devices from our streets,” Park said.
Acting chief health officer Dr Michelle Cretikos said the government took its compliance role seriously. “We are committed to removing as many illegal vapes as we can, particularly to stop them falling into the hands of young people.”
Speaking to Government News earlier this year, Robert Taylor from the Alcohol and Drug Foundation questioned the effectiveness of punitive approaches to drug use, including nicotine use. “They don’t deter people and they don’t effectively resolve the underlying health concerns that may be related to alcohol or other drug use, or in this case vaping,” he said.
As to whether the introduction of such harsh penalties will work to curb vaping, Taylor told GN: “We’re going to have to wait and see. The reality is that we don’t know at this stage.”
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