Information for people who vape to quit smoking

It’s great that you are seeking information about quitting smoking. This is one of the best things you can do for your health.

Vaping products are available with a prescription to support people who have made several attempts to quit using other methods.

It’s important to know that there are other proven, safe, and effective ways to quit smoking, including behavioural therapies, nicotine replacement therapy (patches, gum, lozenges, mouth spray and inhalators) and some prescription medications.

If these methods haven’t worked for you, talk to your doctor about whether prescription vaping could be suitable. As with any medication, your doctor is not required to prescribe vaping as a cessation aid if they do not think it is clinically appropriate.

Your doctor or health professional should discuss the risks and benefits of vaping with you before they prescribe them.

Some of the risks of vaping include:

• Short term effects of vaping may include throat irritation, headache, cough, nausea
• Unknown long-term effects on health – vaping products haven’t been available for a long enough time to observe all the effects.
• Burns and injuries can occur when vapes explode
• Nicotine can cause poisoning to yourself and others. Keep all vaping products out of reach of children.  
• If you continue to smoke while vaping, or you vape nicotine more than you would smoke you will increase your nicotine consumption, increasing your addiction.  
• You may vape for a longer period than you would use another smoking cessation medication. This extends your exposure to nicotine and other chemicals in vaping products – it’s important to commit to quitting vaping after you’ve quit smoking.

The key benefit of using vaping as a cessation aid, is not smoking, which we know causes serious immediate and long-term health problems.

Important points to know about

Smoke-free laws apply to vaping. In places where you can’t smoke, you can’t vape either. This includes people with a prescription vape.  

You should know that how you vape can be very different to how you smoke – unlike a cigarette, which ends after about 10 minutes, a vape doesn’t have a distinct end-point. It’s very important to stay aware of how much you are vaping, to avoid increasing how much nicotine and other chemicals you take in. Try to control how often you reach for your vape.  

Vaping products are ‘unapproved’ therapeutic goods. This means that the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has not assessed or registered any vaping product for quality, safety, or performance as a smoking cessation aid.

Studies show that former smokers who vape have a higher risk of relapsing to tobacco smoking. For people using vaping to quit smoking, the aim should always be to become nicotine-free and quit vaping after quitting smoking.