‘Most insane plan I have ever heard’: Prescriptions for vapes will ‘cripple’ GP system

Sky News contributor Joe Hildebrand has criticised the “most insane plan” requiring Australians to seek out prescriptions for nicotine vapes because it will “cripple” a stretched GP system and will make it easier for people to buy cigarettes. 450,000 more Australians are expected to get prescriptions for vapes each year, which will require almost a million new GP visits, according to a newly released Health Department analysis, which backs the government’s world-first vape reform. However, it is expected if the regime becomes too cumbersome, young people could turn to tobacco. “You’ve already got a situation where it’s impossible to find a bulk-billing doctor if you can find a doctor at all,” Mr Hildebrand said. “This is just the most insane plan I have ever heard in my life. “It will cripple an already stretched GP system; it will make it easier for people to buy cigarettes from a 7-Eleven, which we know will kill you – cigarettes will kill two-thirds of the people who smoke them. “Vaping – there is not much evidence there; there is a lot we don’t know, but it is almost certain, and the evidence we do have is maybe it’s about a 10th as bad for you as smoking tobacco.”