Cannabis Vapes in Australia: Cartridges vs Dry Herb

Search for a weed vape in Australia and most of what comes back is shops. Very little of it explains what the law allows, and almost none of it explains that "cannabis vape" covers two quite different things: an oil cartridge on a battery, and a dry herb vaporiser that heats flower. They are regulated differently, prescribed differently and suit different patients.

This guide covers both kinds, where the law stands on each, why a vape bought from a shop or a website is a problem, and how patients get one legally. It is general information, not individual medical advice.

Key takeaways

• The only legal way to vape cannabis in Australia is on prescription, with the product and the device both supplied through a pharmacy.
• There are two kinds of cannabis vape. Oil vapes use a cartridge of cannabis extract on a battery, usually a 510 battery. Dry herb vaporisers heat prescribed flower.
• A filled cartridge is regulated as the medicine itself. The battery or vaporiser is regulated as a medical device.
• Four vaping devices are approved for medicinal cannabis on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG). None of them uses a 510 battery.
• Getting a THC vape, a 510 battery or even an empty cartridge from a tobacconist, vape shop, convenience store or a website that is not a registered pharmacy is against the law.
• The 2019 US outbreak of vaping lung injury, with 2,807 hospitalised cases or deaths, was linked mainly to THC cartridges from informal sources.

Is it legal to vape cannabis in Australia?

Yes, on prescription, and only on prescription. The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) says you can legally get medicinal cannabis from a pharmacy with a prescription from a doctor or nurse practitioner, and that this includes the vaping products used to take it [1].

The TGA is just as plain about the other side. You are breaking the law if you get medicinal cannabis or vaping products from a tobacconist, a vape shop, a convenience store or an online store that is not a registered pharmacy. That covers vapes and their replacement parts, including 510 batteries, and empty cartridges, pods or capsules designed for use with medicinal cannabis [1].

A prescription does not change where you are allowed to buy. A patient with a legitimate prescription who picks up a battery at a vape shop has still bought it from the wrong place.

The ACT is sometimes assumed to be different. The ACT does allow adults limited personal possession of cannabis, but the rules on vaping products are national, and the TGA's list above applies in Canberra as it does everywhere else. Our guide to cannabis laws in the ACT covers where the line sits between medical and recreational use there.

The two kinds of cannabis vape

Oil vapes (510 cartridges)

An oil vape has two parts. The cartridge holds a cannabis extract, a concentrated oil, along with a small heating element. It screws onto a battery, and the standard thread most cartridges use is called 510, which is where the name "510 battery" comes from. When you inhale, the battery powers the heating element and the oil is released as vapour.

A THC vape pen is the same idea in a slimmer body. A disposable THC vape goes one step further and seals the battery and the oil into a single unit that is thrown away when it is empty.

Because the oil is an extract, it is usually much more concentrated than flower. Your doctor doses a cartridge as its own product, and a dose you are used to with flower does not carry across to it.

Dry herb vaporisers (flower)

A dry herb vaporiser heats ground cannabis flower, the dried plant, enough to release its cannabinoids and terpenes without burning it. On most devices you load the chamber yourself and choose the temperature. Medicinal cannabis flower is prescribed on the condition that it is vaporised, never smoked.

The two kinds do not share hardware. A 510 battery cannot vaporise flower, and a dry herb vaporiser is not built to take a cartridge. Which device you need follows from which product you are prescribed.

For flower, our guide to choosing a dry herb vaporiser covers the four approved devices, what they cost, where to buy one and how to use it.

How the law treats each one

The TGA splits a cannabis vape into two kinds of product, and each has its own rules [2].

• The medicine. Anything that contains medicinal cannabis, including filled cartridges, pods and disposable vapes, is regulated the same way as any other medicinal cannabis product. It needs a prescription and is dispensed by a pharmacy.
• The device. Vaporisers, their parts and consumables, 510 batteries, and empty cartridges, pods and capsules are regulated as medical devices. Generally, a device must be included on the ARTG before it can be supplied in Australia.

Four medicinal cannabis vaping devices are currently on the ARTG. Three heat loose flower, and the fourth, the Syqe Air, uses its own sealed cartridges. The TGA's table records that none of the four uses a 510 battery [3].

That leaves oil cartridges in an awkward position. The cartridge itself can be prescribed and dispensed, but there is no ARTG-approved 510 battery to use it with. A device that is not on the ARTG can only be supplied through the Special Access Scheme or the Authorised Prescriber scheme, and the TGA says approvals under those schemes are only given where the devices on the ARTG are clinically unsuitable for the patient [2].

In practice, that means a conversation with your doctor and your pharmacy before you pay for anything. The TGA's own advice to patients is to make sure your pharmacy can get a compatible device before you pay for the product [1].

Cartridges or dry herb: what differs for a patient

Which form suits you is a clinical decision made with your doctor. These are the practical differences worth knowing before that conversation.

What you are prescribed. A cartridge is a specific extract product. Flower is a specific cultivar. Your doctor prescribes one or the other, and the device follows from it.

Getting the device. Approved dry herb vaporisers are stocked by Australian pharmacies now, and our vaporiser guide lists what each one costs. For a cartridge, the device is the harder part, for the reasons above.

How the dose is controlled. With a dry herb vaporiser, temperature is part of the dose. A higher setting delivers more THC per inhalation, which is why patients are asked to start at the lower end and leave the setting alone once their symptoms are controlled. Our article on terpenes and vaporiser temperature explains why. Most cartridge batteries have few settings, if any, so with a cartridge the number of inhalations you take is the main control.

Preparation and upkeep. Flower has to be ground and loaded for each dose, and the chamber and air path need regular cleaning. A cartridge is ready to use and is replaced when it is empty.

How the device heats. Dry herb vaporisers either heat the flower by contact or pass hot air through it, and that changes how you pack the chamber and how you inhale. Our comparison of convection and conduction vaporisers goes through the difference.

Why a vape from a shop or website is a problem

It is against the law. As set out above, getting a cannabis vape, a 510 battery or even an empty cartridge anywhere other than a pharmacy is against the law [1]. A shop that sells "THC vapes" or "THC pens" over the counter is not operating legally, whatever its website says.

Nobody knows what is in it. Prescribed medicinal cannabis has to meet the TGA's quality standard for medicinal cannabis, which sets requirements for what a product contains and how it is tested [6]. A cartridge from a shop, a website or a dealer comes with none of that. Its THC content, the solvent used to make it and anything added to the oil are all unknown.

It has hurt people before. In 2019 the United States saw an outbreak of lung injury linked to vaping, known as EVALI. By February 2020, 2,807 people had been hospitalised or had died, and 68 deaths were confirmed [4]. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that THC vaping products, particularly those obtained from friends, family or dealers, were linked to most cases. Vitamin E acetate, an additive found in illicit THC oils, was strongly linked to the outbreak and was found in the lung fluid of patients [4].

None of this is a reason to avoid prescribed cannabis. It is a reason to get it through the pathway built for it.

How to get a prescribed cannabis vape

1. See a doctor. They assess whether medicinal cannabis suits your condition and history, and if it does, which form: oil, flower, or a product taken by mouth.
2. Agree the product. If inhalation is right for you, your doctor prescribes either a cartridge or flower and talks you through how to take it.
3. Check the device before you pay. Confirm with your pharmacy that it can supply both the product and a compatible device. For flower, that means one of the four approved vaporisers. For a cartridge, ask your doctor and pharmacist what device can lawfully be supplied to you.
4. Fill the prescription. Most medicinal cannabis products are not kept in stock, so the pharmacy usually orders yours in [1].
5. Review how it is going. Follow-up appointments are where the dose, the product or the form gets adjusted. If something is not working, raise it there rather than changing things yourself.

Medio's doctors assess patients for medicinal cannabis by telehealth. If you would like to talk through whether a prescribed cannabis vape suits you, you can book an appointment.

Frequently asked questions

Is a THC vape pen legal in Australia?

Only if the cartridge is prescribed for you and both the cartridge and the device are supplied through a pharmacy. A THC vape pen from a shop, a website or a friend is not legal, whatever it is sold as.

Can I use my own 510 battery with a prescribed cartridge?

Only if the battery was supplied to you lawfully, which means through a pharmacy. The TGA lists 510 batteries among the vaping products that are against the law to get anywhere other than a pharmacy, even when the cartridge is prescribed [1]. No 510 battery is currently on the ARTG, so ask your doctor and pharmacist what device can be supplied to you before you fill the prescription.

Are CBD vapes legal in Australia?

Only on prescription. CBD is prescription-only in almost every form in Australia. The lower-dose pharmacy category applies only to TGA-approved products taken by mouth, so it does not cover anything you inhale, and no product has been approved for it yet [5]. A CBD vape sold over the counter is not a legal product. Our guide to CBD gummies in Australia explains how CBD access works.

Can I drive after using a cannabis vape?

Vaping does not change the driving law. In most of Australia, driving with any detectable THC is an offence whether or not it was prescribed. Tasmania is the one exception: driving with THC from a product that was lawfully prescribed, dispensed and taken as directed is not an offence there, although driving while impaired still is. Roadside saliva tests detect THC, not impairment, and can pick it up well after the effects have worn off. See our guides to medical cannabis driving laws by state and THC saliva testing.

Will a cannabis vape show up in a workplace drug test?

If it contains THC, it can. A prescription is relevant to how your employer treats a positive result, but it does not stop the test detecting THC. Our article on workplace THC testing rules covers your rights and whether to tell your employer.

Can I travel with a prescribed cannabis vape?

Within Australia, carry it in the original pharmacy packaging with the dispensing label attached, and remember that driving law follows the state you are in. Overseas, the destination country's law applies, and several treat cannabis as a prohibited drug regardless of an Australian prescription. When coming back into Australia, the TGA allows the quantity on your prescription for products that contain medicinal cannabis, including pre-filled cartridges and single-use vapes, plus up to 2 devices and 20 empty cartridges, pods or capsules [1]. Our guide to travelling with prescribed medicinal cannabis has the detail.

References

1. Therapeutic Goods Administration. Medicinal cannabis: information for patients. Australian Government.
2. Therapeutic Goods Administration. Medicinal cannabis vaping devices: information for importers, exporters and manufacturers. Australian Government.
3. Therapeutic Goods Administration. Medicinal cannabis vaping devices that are approved in Australia. Australian Government.
4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Outbreak of lung injury associated with the use of e-cigarette, or vaping, products. United States Government.
5. Therapeutic Goods Administration. Over-the-counter access to low-dose cannabidiol. TGA Media Release.
6. Therapeutic Goods (Standard for Medicinal Cannabis) (TGO 93) Order 2019. Australian Government.