Prescriber Information Hub
Understanding the current vaping laws
GPs have prescribed vaping products to aid patient’s smoking cessation efforts since late 2021, with nurse practitioners able to prescribe since the beginning of 2024.
Regulatory changes in 2024 repositioned the starting point for patients seeking information about, or access to, therapeutic vaping products, directing them to pharmacists who will:
- Provide initial information about therapeutic vaping and when it may be appropriate for a patient.
- Act as a conduit for patients, depending on their needs, to:
- Organisations that can provide behavioural support alone; or
- Prescribers that can provide behavioural support and prescription medicines, including higher-concentration vapes.
- Ensure supply of S3 or S4 vapes as part of a cessation strategy.
These regulatory changes created a new access pathway to low concentration (S3) vapes without a script:
S3
Total nicotine concentration of 20 mg/mL or less
S4
Total nicotine concentration of 50 mg/mL or less
What are the changes to the vaping laws?
Increases standards for prescribed vaping products through revisions to TGO 110
Establishes a list of TGA-notified products that are suitable to being prescribed
Creates a class of pharmacist-only S3 (low concentration) vapes
Provides continued therapeutic access to S4 (higher-concentration) vapes under prescription
Ensures patients are directed to cessation support services
Back to basics: therapeutic vaping in person-centred care
Few patients will have considered vaping as a smoking cessation tool.
In alignment with the PSA’s person-centred care1 approach, the new rules direct patients to pharmacists in the first instance for evidence-based advice about therapeutic vaping and whether it may be appropriate for them.
Pharmacists are ideally positioned to assist those in your community who urgently need new strategies to tackle tobacco dependence – one of the foremost challenges in primary healthcare.
| How person-centred care applies to therapeutic vaping | |
|---|---|
| Work in partnership with your patient | Support patients to make informed healthcare decisions about the suitability of vaping for them |
| Provide advice to them | Provide patients with current evidence-based advice on therapeutic vaping's role in the cessation toolkit |
| Work in collaboration with a prescriber | Work in collaboration with prescribers to optimise the delivery of smoking cessation strategies to your patient |
Request a prescriber pack
Become an Authorised Prescriber
Register as an Authorised Prescriber to prescribe therapeutic vapes for smoking cessation or nicotine dependence
external link (health.gov.au)
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Important links
Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP)
References
- PSA Professional Practice Standard 1: https://www.psa.org.au/practice-support-industry/pps/
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iNRT Healthcare is operated by Liber Pharmaceuticals for the purpose of furthering healthcare education regarding Nicotine Vaping Products (NVPs) within the Australian medical framework. Liber has no affiliation with the tobacco industry, their affiliates, or any organisations or individuals engaged in lobbying on their behalf.
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