Brookfield Samuel, Steadman Kathryn J, Nissen Lisa, Gartner Coral E
School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Herston, Queensland, Australia.
NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence on Achieving the Tobacco Endgame, The University of Queensland, Herston, Queensland, Australia.
Tob Control. 2024 Apr 10. doi: 10.1136/tc-2023-058414.
Regulation of nicotine vaping products (NVPs) is an ongoing challenge across the world. Australia currently has a globally unique NVP regulatory model that requires a medical prescription to purchase and use NVPs, with further restrictions in progress in response to evidence of widespread illicit NVP sales. Against this background, we examine the new measures and consider a modification of the model to pharmacist-only supply as an option for increasing access to NVPs for smoking cessation, while retaining health practitioner oversight of supply. We describe the strengths and challenges of implementing a pharmacist-only NVP supply option in Australia. Compared with the current prescription-only model, pharmacist-only supply could increase access to a lower exposure nicotine product in a highly regulated therapeutic context while addressing youth access and purchasing for non-therapeutic use, reduce demand for illicit products for smoking cessation purposes and avoid overburdening medical services with consultations to obtain NVP prescriptions. This approach can also accommodate current government goals such as eliminating NVP advertising, youth-focused branding and supply from grocery and convenience stores.
对尼古丁电子烟产品（NVPs）进行监管是全球范围内一项持续存在的挑战。澳大利亚目前拥有一种全球独一无二的NVPs监管模式，即购买和使用NVPs需要医生处方，并且鉴于广泛存在的非法NVPs销售证据，正在进一步实施限制措施。在此背景下，我们研究了新措施，并考虑将该模式修改为仅由药剂师供应，作为增加戒烟者获取NVPs的一种选择，同时保留医疗从业者对供应的监督。我们描述了在澳大利亚实施仅由药剂师供应NVPs这一选择的优势和挑战。与当前仅需处方的模式相比，仅由药剂师供应可以在高度规范的治疗环境中增加获取低暴露尼古丁产品的机会，同时解决年轻人获取以及为非治疗用途购买的问题，减少用于戒烟目的的非法产品需求，并避免因获取NVPs处方的咨询而使医疗服务不堪重负。这种方法还可以适应目前的政府目标，如消除NVPs广告、针对年轻人的品牌推广以及杂货店和便利店的供应。
