Effective Oct. 1, 2021, all transactions with any nicotine vaping items, like nicotine e-cigs, liquid nicotine, and nicotine pods, will need a prescription. These regulatory amendments strike a compromise between the need to restrict young people from using nicotine vapes and the requirement to allow users to still access these goods for cessation of smoking given its medical significance. 

Nicotine vaping goods are only legal for the individuals specified on the prescriptions. You may acquire it from a doctor near your place or get online nicotine prescriptions from Smokefree Clinic. 

Consult a doctor about your desire to quit smoking

It would be best if you got smoking and nicotine quitting advice from a doctor. They will go through the different alternatives for quitting smoking, such as prescription medications, nicotine replacement treatments, and support programs. 

If you have attempted numerous smoking cessation therapies without results, your doctor might give you a prescription of nicotine vaping devices to be used under medical supervision. These items, like combustible cigarettes, deliver nicotine that can be addicting. Therefore, when attempting to stop smoking, these should not even be your first option.

Buying vaping nicotine items

If a doctor issues your prescriptions, there are mainly two ways to get nicotine vaping items:

• Completing your prescription once at a drugstore, a local physical pharmacy or an Australian top online pharmacy
• Purchasing from global sites through the known “Personal Importation Scheme”  

Except for pharmacies that dispense nicotine vaping goods to individuals with prescriptions, it is unlawful in Australia for other merchants, including vape shops, to supply nicotine vaping devices. 

Getting your prescription filled at the pharmacy

The local pharmacy will ask for a prescription for a nicotine vaping product. Plan to fill your prescriptions accordingly at an Australian pharmacy. Your doctor must be a licensed prescriber. Australian pharmacies would dispense only those products that match your prescription. 

Items acquired through Australian pharmacies must comply with the TGA’s new criteria from unapproved nicotine vapes. In addition, these items must have proper labelling, a child-resistant package, and fulfil the new ingredient criteria.

Making Use of Personal Importation Scheme

You can buy nicotine vaping goods prescribed by a doctor through an international store through the Personal Importation Scheme.

You can purchase a maximum of 3 months’ worth of supply at a single time and a total of 15 months’ worth in 12 months under the Personal Importation Scheme. But you can only do this if you have the necessary prescription, so do not forget to acquire one from your doctor or procure online nicotine prescriptions from Smokefree Clinic.

Australian border officials may stop the product you are importing if it is suspicious and seems unlawful. Therefore, you should first secure a copy of your doctor’s prescription to be included with your package to avoid being held by the Australian border authority.

Look for medical attention if you are poisoned.

If nicotine vaping goods are ingested or exposed to the eyes or skin, they cause toxicity and sometimes serious side effects. If you or someone else has been compromised or ingested a vaping product, please seek immediate medical attention.

While it is really hard to quit smoking, and you want to try other alternatives such as vaping products, make sure to acquire a nicotine prescription to keep the process smooth.