Vapes should be prescription only, Australian Medical Association says

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) says flavours should be removed to discourage use among young people in particular, maximum nicotine levels should be cut and health warnings added.

The AMA is among groups that have made a submission to the Therapeutic Goods Administration's (TGA) public consultation on proposed reforms. Submissions closed on Monday.

Nicotine vaping products (NVPs) are available in shops and online, and this undermines the TGA regulatory framework and misleads customers into purchasing an addictive product, the AMA says.

The AMA's publicly released submission said NVPs should be banned through the personal importation scheme.

"Australia is losing the public health battle on vaping and improving safety and removing loopholes in their regulation is essential to reversing this," it said.

It said NVPs should only be available by prescription as a last resort to help quit smoking. It added, however, that data from the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners showed there was "limited evidence for the use of NVPs as an effective nicotine cessation aid".

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"The aim of regulating NVPs must be to limit their use only for the intended purpose of smoking cessation, and to ensure these unproven products pose as little harm as possible," the AMA wrote.

The AMA suggested maximum nicotine levels be reduced from the current 100mg/ml to 20mg/ml.

Flavours in vapes are appealing to young people, with a recent study citing flavour and taste was the most important characteristic for 14-17 year old users.

"Tobacco companies have a vested interest in keeping consumers addicted to vaping products, and have invested considerable resources in undermining clear evidence and health advice," the AMA said.

The TGA is reviewing all submissions made during the consultation.