Recent estimates suggest that about 41 million people around the world vape. That’s an incredible number of people no longer filling their lungs with tar or subjecting those around them to second-hand smoke. In spite of the huge benefit that vaping has had for public health and for indoor air quality around the world, though, some of the world’s governments have a decidedly negative attitude toward it.

When it comes to the government’s legal stance toward vaping, Australia is an interesting case. Vaping isn’t banned in Australia. It’s completely legal, in fact, and you can find vape shops throughout the country. The one thing that you won’t find, however, is e-liquid with nicotine. Liquid nicotine is illegal to buy over the counter in Australia, but you can import it from overseas vendors.

Here at Premium Vape, we’re happy to provide a solution that allows Australians to buy nicotine e-liquid from New Zealand – and we’re so close that it’s almost like buying from a domestic vendor. Shop our selection of bottled e-liquid or refill pods now.

So, how does it work when you buy nicotine e-liquid from New Zealand? If you’re new to vaping, you might not be entirely familiar with how the laws surrounding nicotine work in Australia. In this article, we’ll give you a short primer.

Want to learn more? Click for a short guide on how to buy JUUL® in Australia!

Why You Can’t Buy Nicotine E-Liquid in Australian Stores

The reason why e-liquid with nicotine isn’t available in Australian vape shops is because the law classifies liquid nicotine as a controlled substance. It’s a Schedule 7 poison, in fact, just like DDT or arsenic. That means you can’t buy or sell it without a doctor’s recommendation – and even if you do have a recommendation, nicotine e-liquid still isn’t that easy to find in Australia. We’ll explain.

E-Liquid: Now Available at Your Local Compounding Pharmacy

To buy e-liquid with nicotine in Australia – whether you buy it domestically or import it – you need a doctor’s prescription. In short, you need a doctor to recommend a therapeutic exemption for Australia’s controlled substances law.

On the surface, getting your doctor to recommend that you use nicotine e-liquid instead of smoking cigarettes might sound like an easy thing. The fact, though, is that you may have trouble getting your doctor to write the prescription because standard nicotine replacement products are available over the counter and are known to be safe. The Australian Tobacco Harm Reduction Association is an organization that works to educate Australian doctors. The site explains why doctors should remain open minded when it comes to prescribing nicotine e-liquid and explains how to write a prescription.

Once you do manage to get a prescription, though, you still can’t just walk into a vape shop and buy e-liquid with nicotine. The only legal sellers of nicotine e-liquid in Australia are compounding pharmacies. You won’t exactly find a compounding pharmacy on every street corner, and once you do find one, the product that you receive isn’t likely to resemble any e-liquid you’ve ever used before. It most likely won’t be flavoured. You may not be able to choose the nicotine strength. Some people have even mentioned that the e-liquids they’ve received from Australian compounding pharmacies have contained water.

Unless you purchase from a compounding pharmacy that’s an experienced e-liquid maker – and a few of them do exist – you’re likely to receive some of the strangest e-liquid you’ve ever seen.

Thankfully, there is an alternative – and that’s where Premium Vape comes in.

Australian Law Allows You to Import NZ Vape Juice for Personal Use

The reason why you can ship nicotine e-liquid from New Zealand to Australia is because the law allows you to import a limited supply of nicotine for personal use. That’s due to the Therapeutic Goods Administration Personal Importation Scheme. The Australian government recognizes that certain items on the controlled substances list have therapeutic use and allows you to import those items with a doctor’s recommendation since you can’t get them domestically.

The fastest way to get your nicotine e-liquid in Australia is to find a great NZ vape shop – and you’ve found one right here with Premium Vape.

Complying With the Australian Personal Importation Scheme

To import nicotine e-liquid from New Zealand to Australia – or to import it from any other country – you just need to comply with a few requirements.

• You need a doctor’s prescription to be in full legal compliance. We’re not going to ask you for your prescription; that’s your responsibility. On the off chance that a customs agent asks you to present your prescription when picking up a shipment of nicotine e-liquid, you should have it handy.
• There is a limit to how much e-liquid you can import. That’s to discourage people from importing bulk vape juice and reselling it. You can import no more than a three month’s supply at a time and no more than a 15 month’s supply during the course of a year. Australian law doesn’t specify an amount of e-liquid that you should use in a month, so it seems logical that you’re fine buying whatever amount you actually use as long as you don’t appear to be buying in bulk for resale.

Conclusion: Buying Nicotine E-Liquid From New Zealand Is Fast and Easy

It’s possible that one day, the Australian government will adopt a more permissive attitude toward vaping and allow vapers to buy nicotine e-liquid over the counter at home. Until then, though, the fact that the Therapeutic Goods Administration Personal Importation Scheme provides an exception to the law means that buying vape juice in Australia really isn’t that hard. What’s even better is that, since you have a vape shop here in New Zealand that’s happy to ship to Aussie customers, you don’t even need to wait that long to receive your e-liquid. When we ship vape juice from our New Zealand warehouse, you’ll get your e-liquid almost as quickly as if you had purchased it locally.