As a grandfather and someone who works in the health industry, I feel immense disappointment in this country’s efforts to prevent and protect people from products such as vapes, that are specifically designed and sold to be addictive.
Because I fear it will be my grandchildren that will be asking the questions of my generation as to why we weren’t up to making gutsy calls to keep people healthy.
And why aren’t we? Why is it so hard to place proper restrictions on products that cause harm? Why do we whiff the opportunities to make it easier for people to be healthy, to reduce the long-term burden of disease, to keep people out of hospital?
The watered-down vaping reform legislation which will see any adult able to purchase unapproved, unregulated and untested vapes from pharmacies without the medical oversight that comes with a prescription, is a glaring and tragic case in point.
Here we were, as a nation, battling a tidal wave of tobacco industry sponsored vaping that, surprise surprise, our kids were flocking to, and when we had the chance to end it by placing an effective ban on these products, our elected representatives coughed it up.
Now, they’re patting themselves on the back for legislation that will predictably pave the way for vapes to thrive in our community, in the mouths of any kid who wants them, exposing them to harmful addiction and a convenient pathway to tobacco. Then, it’s just more chronic disease and preventable deaths.
Turning pharmacies into vape shops without any medical oversight of a product we know is highly addictive and likely to be illegally sold-on to children is a massive setback in our efforts to stop yet another generation becoming addicted to the harmful products of big tobacco.
Thankfully, some of our pharmacies are stepping up where the federal politicians have failed. The chains that have stated they won’t be transformed into vape shops and won’t stock vapes regardless of this weak legislation are to be commended for their stand.
There is still a window of hope though. Already, Western Australia has pushed back against the legislation, and I’m calling on the Tasmanian Government to do the same and better protect our younger generation.
To retail nicotine products in Tasmania, you need a license from the state government – and this gives us an opportunity to place tougher restrictions on vapes and vaping products that contain nicotine.
It’s an opportunity our state government needs to show leadership in and must take up. We, as a state, need to make the hard call if we are to put our hands on our hearts and say we did everything we could to make the younger generation a healthier one than ours.
Paul Lupo is the CEO of Tasmanian not-for-profit health insurer St Lukes