10 February 2025
Written by Lili Cavanagh
However, lessons from past prohibitions, from alcohol to tobacco, suggest that bans tend to exacerbate the problems they seek to solve. History and evidence indicate that regulation is a far more effective and ethical approach.
By adopting a harm reduction framework, Victoria can manage e-cigarettes in a way that prioritises public health, minimises criminal justice impacts, and curtails illicit markets.
The Failures of Criminalisation
Criminalising substances has historically proven ineffective, often leading to unintended negative consequences.
The prohibition of alcohol in the early 20th century United States led to the rise of powerful criminal organisations thriving in an unregulated black market rife with violence, exploitation and illegal trade.
More recently, these conditions have been replicated in Australia’s own ‘tobacco wars’, which have seen tobacconists firebombed and high-profile organised criminal network leaders assassinated, all linked to illicit tobacco trade.
Anti-vaping laws in Victoria are following a similar trajectory.
Rather than reducing youth access, criminalisation is pushing vaping into black markets where quality control is non-existent, exposing consumers – the majority of whom are young people – to dangerous, unregulated products.
Additionally, criminalisation disproportionately affects vulnerable populations.
Australians are consuming more products with nicotine. Whilst smoking has dramatically decreased over the past two decades, rates have remained high in lower socioeconomic and remote communities, and uptake in e-cigarette use has more than doubled since 2018, with more than half of that demographic represented by under 30s.
Consequently, the punitive approach towards vaping has increased the likelihood of young people entering the criminal justice system, which has a proven criminogenic effect – early contact with law enforcement is associated with ongoing justice system involvement and adverse social outcomes. Additionally, people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are already overrepresented in the justice system.