Cancer Council Urges Stronger Enforcement

New estimates from the Australian Bureau of Statistics indicate that illicit nicotine products now account for approximately 80% of total nicotine consumption in Australia. The Cancer Council Australia is urgently calling for increased enforcement and demand reduction strategies as a response.

Since 2017, there has been a significant shift, with legal tobacco consumption nearly halving since 2020. Meanwhile, total nicotine use has grown by almost 40%. This surge is attributed to the prevalence of unregulated products.

Jacinta Reddan, CEO of Cancer Council Australia, stated, “The experimental estimates from ABS indicate that licensing and enforcement must be urgently strengthened by all governments if we are to tackle illicit tobacco and nicotine products.”

Key Measures Proposed

The Cancer Council has outlined several measures to combat the issue. These include establishing a national licensing scheme for all tobacco and nicotine retailers, increasing enforcement resources against illicit supply chains, and strengthening penalties to disrupt organised crime networks.

The ABS report utilises wastewater data to capture total nicotine consumption but does not differentiate between product types. This methodology is still being refined, and further changes to the estimates may occur over time.

Reddan added, “There is no overnight fix to this challenge, but there are demand and supply reduction measures all governments can enact immediately. We will not reduce the availability of illicit tobacco by making all tobacco cheaper.”

Due to the growing illicit market, the Cancer Council emphasizes the necessity of maintaining proven tobacco control measures. These include taxation and investing in national public education campaigns about the health harms of tobacco use.

The ABS data, collected from August to October 2024, coincided with a time when illegal vaping products were widely available. Strengthened national laws and enforcement came into effect in July 2024, aiming to curb such availability.

Cancer Council warns of the risk that the data estimates could be misrepresented by big tobacco and industry front groups. They might use this information to justify weakening effective tobacco control policies.

Australia faces a critical window to address the issue. Urgent action is required to prevent the illicit tobacco market from undermining decades of progress in reducing smoking rates, according to the Cancer Council.