Key takeaways
- Nicotine vaping offers cost-effective solution for smokers.
- Vaping cost in Australia: a financial comparison.
- Save thousands yearly by switching to vaping.
- Pharmacy NVPs provide economical and health-conscious option.
Nicotine vaping products (NVPs) have gained popularity in recent years as a legitimate quitting tool for many smokers – after all, smoking remains the leading preventable cause of death and disease in Australia, claiming 24,000 lives every year.
But, are NVPs or vapes much cheaper than tobacco cigarettes? With the rising prices of tobacco in Australia, an effective and affordable quitting tool can encourage even the most hardened smoker to kick the ciggies.
In today’s post, let’s take a closer look at the pharmacy vape cost in Australia and if it can help you save money as you quit smoking for good.
How Much Are Vapes?
Vaping is much more affordable than smoking and can greatly help you quit smoking if you’re under a smoking cessation programme.
Chat to an Aussie GP today
Friendly phone consultations
TGA-authorised Aussie doctors
Nicotine vaping scripts available
How much are vapes in Australia? A nicotine cartridge for vaping from a pharmacy – the format of medically-supported pharmacy vapes – only costs about $10 to $13 on average. Each cartridge is estimated to be equal to around 20 cigarettes in terms of puffs.
If we do the simple maths of it all, a pack-a-day smoker can be saving up to $12,500 a year.
If you’re working with a GP and using NVPs for smoking cessation, you might save even more money as you taper down your usage over time – you’ll also add 2 hours to your life for every cigarette you don’t have.
If you’re interested in knowing your potential savings, try out our Savings Calculator.
Increasing Cigarette Expenses in Australia
Every smoker in Australia knows that cigarettes are frightfully expensive, and the expenses pile on because it’s terribly difficult to quit. A pack-a-day smoker of a 20’s pack would be spending at least $40 for a popular cigarette brand every single day – around $14,000 a year.
Clearly, it’s a huge sum of money. It’s enough for a college fund, or an entire year’s worth of groceries.
Aside from the financial benefits of quitting smoking with the help of pharmacy NVPs, you also avoid the many diseases and medical expenses you might face with continued tobacco use.
More About Pharmacy Nicotine Vaping Products (NVPs)
Now that you know how pharmacy NVPs can help you save thousands and avoid possible health expenses in the future, let’s take a look at why these second-line tools are a great way to help you quit the stick for good.
No Deadly Cigarette Smoke
As mentioned, the chemicals in cigarette smoke are the primary culprit behind the many health problems of regular smokers.
With each stick, you’re inhaling aldehydes, carbon monoxide, tar, cadmium (found in batteries), ammonia, and acetone (used in industrial cleaners), which significantly affect your lungs and overall health.
Pharmacy vapes are made with the highest standards (ISO and GMP), and all of the ingredients of their e-liquids are identified/characterised and assessed for inhalation safety by expert toxicologists.
What you’re inhaling is developed solely for your health and safety, and is efficiently designed to help you quit smoking for good.
Effective in Smoking Cessation
Many GPs and successful quitters have found pharmacy NVPs as a great way to quit smoking for good.
While you can only use NVPs after you’ve gone through nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) such as patches and gums, The latest Cochrane review found high-certainty evidence that NVPs are more effective than NRT in helping people quit for good.
Manages Nicotine Withdrawals
Pharmacy NVPs are a great alternative when NRT isn’t working for a motivated smoker – and for many good reasons.
Motivated smokers have different triggers that can cause severe nicotine cravings – it could be as simple as having your morning coffee, heading outside on your work break, or the most difficult: drinks with friends.
GPs have found that NVPs from pharmacies address these situational, behavioural, and gesture-related triggers of their patients much better, as it gives them something to use to satisfy their cravings without dreaming of a cigarette.
Important: Understanding Illegal Vapes vs. Pharmacy NVPs
You may have noticed we’re mostly talking about pharmacy NVPs here. In Australia, NVPs you can buy from your local pharmacy have the highest medical manufacturing standards, are insured, and are designed to help you quit smoking with your health and safety as the focus.
None of this is true for the illegal vapes you can buy from tobacconists and corner shops. Let’s take a closer look at why.
Illegal Vapes
Profit is the only goal of illegal vape sellers. So, how much does an illegal vape cost the average user?
Overseas manufacturers pump out these dangerous products for as little as $1, with local importers and distributors ticking up the prices by 3,500% to maximise their profits.
But, price isn’t the only cost with illegal vapes.
Unsuspecting citizens will become easily addicted to these unregulated products because they can contain up to 357mg of nicotine in each device – which is not only exponentially higher than what’s needed for smoking cessation, but can be extremely dangerous to your health.
If you do keep on buying them, you’re greatly endangering your health and safety – these devices have been found to contain nickel and lead and even human saliva.
Illegal vapes also put public health in danger. Many teenagers and even children as young as 5 are drawn to the fruity, candy-like flavours and attractive packaging these illegal products have. What starts as a youthful curiosity is ending in a potentially lifelong health struggle.
Remember, if you buy a vaping product anywhere outside of a pharmacy, you’ll personally be supporting and growing a blackmarket that profits from anyone they can sell to – even little children.
Pharmacy Vapes
As mentioned, pharmacy vapes are manufactured entirely for smoking cessation. These are medically supported products made with the highest standards possible in sanitary facilities.
Knowledgeable experts compliant with medical device manufacturing standards and good manufacturing practices are involved in every part of the process.
They characterise each e-liquid ingredient, test any compounds once the e-liquid is aerosolized, and ensure they’re suitable for anyone going through a smoking cessation programme with medical support.
How to Access Pharmacy Vapes and Save Money (and Your Lungs)
Let’s take a closer look at the process on how you can buy pharmacy vapes
Go Through First-Line Solutions First
You need a nicotine prescription before you can purchase NVPs. As a second-line solution, one requirement is that you’ve already tried and failed to quit smoking with a first-line treatment, such as NRT products.
NRT products (like patches and gums) are the most trusted quitting option available for motivated smokers. They might not imitate cigarettes, but they contain a small dose of nicotine that may be enough to alleviate your withdrawals.
While NRTs can be effective, they don’t work for everyone. If these haven’t done the trick for you, you may now be eligible for a nicotine prescription.
Chat to a GP
As mentioned, NRT products have worked for many successful ex-smokers. But, you might have ingrained behaviours and triggers that only something that mimics a cigarette can successfully address, such as the hand-to-mouth motion, and needing something to use while having a drink with friends.
If your GP deems it necessary, they can write you a nicotine prescription for NVPs.
You can chat to your usual GP about this, or book a phone chat with an authorised prescriber of nicotine.
Visit Your Local Pharmacy
Once you have your nicotine prescription, you can pop down to your local pharmacy. Over 2,200 pharmacies across Australia hold these products in-store, but any pharmacy can order these in for you if they don’t currently stock them.
Both your pharmacist and GP can advise you on how best to use the product, such as the initial setup, and the number of puffs to take when you feel withdrawals.
Does Vaping Save You Money In the Long Run?
Pharmacy NVPs save you a great deal of money, not only of your total yearly expenses on packs of cigarettes, but also accounting for the health expenses you’ll avoid in the future.
If you’re under a smoking cessation programme and your GP prescribes an NVP to you, you can expect enormous, life-changing savings for your wallet.
We certainly understand that the road to quitting is a long and tiring journey, but we can always lighten the load and keep you motivated throughout.
Smokefree Clinic gives you access to many medically reviewed and trustworthy resources that can inform and aid you in your path to wellness, so have a look around!
If you’re ready to get started, Smokefree can connect you to Australian healthcare professionals who excel in helping patients quit smoking for good, including using responsible vaping products where appropriate.
Click here to book your telehealth consultation with an Australian healthcare professional and quit smoking today.