Community pharmacies, pharmacy banner brands and industry groups have expressed strong opposition to changes to legislation that will allow the sale of vaping products over the counter at community pharmacies.
The legislation, which was passed in the Senate last week and came into effect today, went ahead without consultation from the pharmacy industry.
Stakeholders argue that the changes undermine the role pharmacists play in ensuring safe and informed access to smoking cessation products.
Community pharmacists are trained in the safe and quality use of medicines. Their role is to dispense medicines with a proven therapeutic benefit that are approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration and listed on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods.
Numerous pharmacy banner groups have released statements expressing their opposition and reluctance to ask owners to stock vaping supplies.
Included in those expressing concern are National Pharmacies, Chemist Warehouse, Blooms the Chemist, Pharmacy 777, Priceline Pharmacy and TerryWhite Chemmart.
There is limited evidence to support the use of vaping products for smoking cessation and nicotine dependence over the long term. Many pharmacists are understandably concerned at being expected to supply substances that will potentially cause long-term harms.
“These are products that are unregulated, untested, unproven. We basically don't have the evidence to show that they're safe and effective for us to supply to people,” states National Pharmacies Chief Pharmacist Bec Rogers.
For those who choose to stock vaping products, insurance and liability risks may find them regretting their decision in the future. Chemist Warehouse is another pharmacy brand expressing reluctance to stock vapes.
“What are the implications for liability down the track? What if we end up finding, like cigarettes, in 30 years' time people have cancers and stuff like that, who’s liable?” asks Chemist Warehouse’s Chief Operational Officer Mario Tascone.
The Pharmacy 777 banner group has raised questions about pharmacists being the gatekeepers for vapes, when prescriptions from the GP are no longer required.
“We understand the intent to transition vaping from a retail supply to a therapeutic prescribing model, but as it stands today it is simply transferring a problem and not solving it,“ a Pharmacy 777 spokesperson says.
“[Selling vapes] undermines the professional role of pharmacists. Going from a retail sale to a health outcome focus is placing undue pressure on the community pharmacy that has no protocols or guidelines to be able to counsel and seek better alternatives without push back to the expectation of just being a retail sale of a vaping unit.”
Blooms The Chemist Management Services chief executive Emmanual Vavoulas also issued a statement to Blooms’ banner pharmacies reminding them of the health risks associated with vaping.
“Vapes are potentially harmful products and they currently do not have (Therapeutic Good Administration) approval for sale – there are risks associated with vaping, particularly for young people – vapes have the potential to harm health, which goes against our purpose,” he said.
In Canberra, local Ainslie pharmacist and co-owner of TerryWhite Chemmart Esmond Biesiek-Wright is worried the new regulations will encourage people to visit multiple pharmacies to stockpile vaping products. Mr Biesiek-Wright was not aware of the Government’s plan to backflip on their original legislation, and has since been receiving calls from patients wanting to know more with questions he cannot answer.
It will not be mandatory for pharmacies to supply vapes and will instead be up to the discretion of individual owners.
Catherine Bronger, pharmacist and Vice President of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia’s New South Wales Branch says, “There are many pharmacists who really don't want to be in the supply of vapes. We're not policemen — we're pharmacists and we shouldn't have to police these items within community pharmacies, especially because we know they're often used by underage people."
The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) initially opposed the legislation but has since accepted the changes following its passage through the Senate.
“While the amendments to the legislation are not PSA’s preferred approach, we also recognise the need for strong action to address the vaping public health crisis, and this starts with ending retail supply of vapes.
Now, their focus lies in finding ways to best support those pharmacists who will choose to supply vapes.
“PSA will work with government to support the pharmacists who choose to be involved in the prescribing and dispensing of nicotine-containing therapeutic vapes. [We] will develop best-practice guidelines to describe how pharmacists prescribe products for smoking cessation products, including nicotine-containing therapeutic vapes.”
