It's been described as Australia's public health menace, and now vapes are set to become even more difficult to come by.
States like New South Wales have already brought in strict rules prohibiting the sale of vapes to under 18s, with bans on advertising the products too.
However, a federal government crackdown announced today will see it made illegal to sell non-prescription vapes completely, even if they do not contain nicotine.
Speaking to the ABC's Q+A programme, Health Minister Mark Butler said he was "determined" to stop the products being used for non-therapeutic reasons, especially when targeted towards children.
"I mean, if these are genuinely therapeutic products, then they should only be available in therapeutic settings which is essentially pharmacies," he said.
The government's revealed a multimillion-dollar crackdown on the products. (Source: 1News)
"They have pink unicorns on them, they are bubblegum flavoured - these are not therapeutic products marketed at adults, they are deliberately designed to be attractive to kids and I'm determined to stop it."
Butler said the problem was only getting worse, and claimed Victoria's poison hotline had taken 50 calls in 12 months relating to kids under the age of four who'd ingested vapes.
"This is a very serious problem we're facing and it has exploded over the last few years," he said.
"While we were focused on the pandemic, it has utterly exploded and we've got to deal with it now."
Despite import restrictions, some manufacturers have been falsely labelling their products as "nicotine free" to get them into the country.
The ban announced today will mean vapes are illegal to sell from convenience stores, and people will need a prescription for one.
There will also be restricted flavours, colours, with pharmaceutical-like packaging also required.
Single-use vapes will be banned across the board too.
The Federal Government's expected to pledge AU$234 million in funding for tobacco and vaping reforms.
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