Since the growth of the black market, our business is at a significant disadvantage in providing genuine products to patients. The black market has grown to 1 million consumers, using unregulated products.
The lack of enforcement, ambiguity of the TGO 110 regulations, and the lack of effective regulation in relation non-nicotine products, poses a public health crisis. It also jeopardises the sustainability of patient treatment with legitimate adult smoker cessation products.
We support a pragmatic solution for adult smoker cessation with NVPs under therapeutics goods framework. We want the Government to make the sale of NVPs illegal unless sold by a pharmacist to adults wanting to break their cigarette addiction. We believe we are part of the solution, not the problem.
The key to a workable solution is preventing the black market, which in turn curtails youth access, while advocating regulation that considers the potential benefits of approved NVPs for adult smokers, which can be substantial, immediate, and potentially life-saving.
It is important for regulators to find the right balance between these concerns.