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Can you vape CBD in Australia?

No vaped CBD product is registered in Australia, and the over-the-counter CBD category covers oral products only. Any lawful use needs a prescription.

Facts checked 13 November 20263 min readHow we research

Not without a prescription, and there is no registered CBD vape. As of November 2026, the only CBD category that could ever be sold without a prescription is limited to products taken by mouth, and every other CBD product is a prescription medicine.1

What does the law allow?

  • Over the counter: nothing. The pharmacist-only (Schedule 3) entry covers “oral, oromucosal and sublingual preparations” only. It does not cover vapes. No product has been registered under it in any case.12
  • On prescription: CBD is a Schedule 4 medicine, and products with more THC are Schedule 8. A doctor or nurse practitioner can apply to prescribe unapproved cannabis medicines through the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) pathways.13
  • Devices: the TGA reported in 2025 that four medical devices for use with medicinal cannabis had been approved, and that none can be used to vape cannabis oils.2

Australia tightened its vaping laws from 1 July 2024.4 We could not confirm from the regulator’s current pages exactly how those rules apply to cannabis vaping devices today, so we do not describe them here.

Can you buy a CBD vape from a shop or website?

No. A CBD vape sold without a prescription is not a lawful product, and ordering one from overseas is a prohibited import.5 See is it legal to buy CBD online?

Quality is a particular problem. In a United States study of 84 CBD products bought online, vape liquids were the type most often mislabelled.6

How is inhaled CBD different from oil?

Inhaled CBD reaches the blood faster and in a larger share.

Route Share reaching the bloodstream Time to peak
Swallowed, empty stomach About 6%7 About 2.5 to 5 hours8
Inhaled (smoked) About 31%, ranging from roughly 11% to 45%9 5 to 10 minutes7

That does not make it more useful. Faster absorption is not evidence of benefit.

Does vaping CBD help any condition?

There is no good evidence that it does. The trials behind registered CBD medicine used an oral solution.8 In a migraine trial, vaporised CBD on its own “was not superior to placebo for any outcomes at 2 hours”.10

What are the risks?

The long-term effects of inhaling CBD have not been studied in the sources we reviewed. Most medicinal cannabis sold in Australia is in the category with the most THC, and THC affects driving and drug tests.11 See can you drive on CBD oil?

If you have asthma or another lung condition, raise it with your prescriber.

Read the full guide: CBD vapes and CBD flower.

Footnotes

  1. Australian Government. Therapeutic Goods (Poisons Standard, October 2026) Instrument 2026. https://www.legislation.gov.au/F2026L01327/asmade/2026-09-30/text/original/pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  2. Therapeutic Goods Administration. Consultation paper on unapproved medicinal cannabis products, August 2025. https://consultations.tga.gov.au/medicines-regulation-division/test-soms/user_uploads/final---consultation-paper---medicinal-cannabis-review---august-2025.pdf ↩ ↩2

  3. Therapeutic Goods Administration. Medicinal cannabis access pathways. https://www.tga.gov.au/products/unapproved-therapeutic-goods/medicinal-cannabis/access-pathways ↩

  4. Therapeutic Goods Administration. Changes to the regulation of vapes. https://www.tga.gov.au/products/unapproved-therapeutic-goods/therapeutic-vaping-goods/vaping-hub/changes-regulation-vapes ↩

  5. Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956, regulation 5. https://www.legislation.gov.au/F1996B03651/latest/text ↩

  6. Bonn-Miller MO and others. Labeling accuracy of cannabidiol extracts sold online. JAMA, 2017. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2661569 ↩

  7. World Health Organization. Cannabidiol (CBD) critical review report, 2018. https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/controlled-substances/whocbdreportmay2018-2.pdf ↩ ↩2

  8. Epidiolex (cannabidiol) prescribing information, United States. https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=8bf27097-4870-43fb-94f0-f3d0871d1eec ↩ ↩2

  9. Millar SA and others. A systematic review on the pharmacokinetics of cannabidiol in humans. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 2018. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30534073/ ↩

  10. Schuster NM and others. Vaporized cannabis versus placebo for acute migraine (randomised crossover trial). https://escholarship.org/uc/item/89m6r4pt ↩

  11. Penington Institute. Cannabis in Australia, November 2025 (citing TGA data). https://www.penington.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Penington_Institute_Cannabis-in-Australia_Nov_2025.pdf ↩

This page is general information, not medical or legal advice. Laws and evidence change; we show the date we last checked the facts at the top of every page. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.

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