Brutal reality check for Anthony Albanese’s government as major failure of its ‘world-leading’ crackdown on vaping is exposed

Stores in Australia’s largest cities openly sell nicotine vaping products, despite the Albanian government’s new laws banning these products.

A nationwide ban on the import of disposable vapes came into effect on January 1, with retailers banned from selling e-cigarettes containing nicotine.

Health Secretary Mark Butler called the reforms “world-leading” when they launched last week, adding: “If you vape, make this New Year’s resolution to quit.”

But Butler’s crackdown appears to be going up in smoke, ignored by brash specialty and convenience stores.

Along King Street in Sydney’s trendy suburb of Newtown, Daily Mail Australia spotted at least 20 independent and chain stores selling illegal nicotine vapes, illegal cigarettes and other smoking devices.

At some stores, our reporter was handed plastic folders containing dozens of different models and flavors from which customers could choose.

The flavor options include apple, blueberry, raspberry, watermelon and mango ice cream – all with nicotine despite Mr Butler’s ban.

The packaging was decorated with vibrant colors and playful designs that made the vapes look more like lollipops marketed to children than nicotine products.

Prices ranged from $25 to $50 depending on the amount of puffs contained.

And the process for purchasing the banned products was the same as for purchasing legal goods.

No ID checks to confirm age, no mysterious whispers – just a simple credit card transaction in exchange for the contraband.

Brian Marlow, director of Legalize Vaping Australia, told Daily Mail Australia this was evidence that the government’s attempts to regulate vaping were not working.

“The funny thing about this ban is that disposable vapes have never been legal in Australia, they’ve always been banned,” he said.

In 2021, the Morrison government made it illegal for any Australian to purchase or import nicotine vapor or e-cigarettes without a doctor’s prescription.

This brought the import requirement in line with an existing ban on the sale of nicotine vapor in Australia under state and territory laws.

But many retailers and manufacturers have tried to circumvent the legislation by falsely claiming that their products do not contain nicotine.

Under the new ban, retailers will be allowed to sell existing nicotine-free stock imported before this year.

The import of all non-therapeutic vapes and all vapes for personal use will be prohibited from March 1.

To coincide with the changes to import rules, a new access program will be established to allow doctors and nurses to prescribe therapeutic vapors where necessary.

Mr Marlow said the ban had only allowed retailers to charge customers more for vapes because of the greater risks they took to import and sell them.

He said crime gangs who import the vapes from China to sell to retailers have also been able to boost their profit margins.

“More than 90 per cent of vapes sold in Australia are on the black market,” he said.

“With over a million vapers in Australia, you’re dealing with a multi-billion dollar industry that the federal government has no real intention of legalizing.

“We are the only country in the world with such a serious problem.”

Mr Marlow said highly addictive IGET vapes manufactured in Chinese factories were also banned in China and rarely used by residents.

“But here we eat it, there is no problem exporting it to Australia,” he said.

“Because we have not properly regulated the market, people are willing to break the law and face criminal charges.

‘They like to sell to children. We allow criminals to operate.”

Mr Marlow said marketing restrictions, product standards, retailer licensing and heavy fines for sales to minors would help clean up the black market.

“Australia should follow the lead of New Zealand, Britain and the rest of the world when it comes to vaping laws,” he said.

“Allow and regulate the sale of high-quality vapes in the same way we regulate other adult products such as alcohol.

‘By doing this, adults will have access to safer products that don’t have sky-high nicotine levels like you see in dodgy Chinese disposables.

“It will also crush the rampant vaping black market that the government has created.”

However, Professor Simon Chapman of Public Health at the University of Sydney said vapes should be strictly regulated, and objected to calling the reforms a ‘ban’.

‘Vapes are not banned, but strictly regulated as they always should have been. Anyone who says they are banned probably also believes that every prescription drug in Australia is also banned by the same argument,” Professor Chapman told the media.

The current government crackdown is fueled by the increase in the number of underage Aussies accessing vaping and young non-smokers adopting nicotine vaping.

“Vaping was marketed to governments and communities around the world as a therapeutic product to help long-term smokers quit,” Mr Butler said in a National Press Club speech in May 2023.

‘It was not sold as a recreational product, and certainly not for our children. That’s what it became.’

Mr Butler criticized the former coalition government, saying they were not strict enough in regulating vape imports, while creating excessive hurdles for smokers seeking regulatory relief.

“The former administration ultimately created the perfect conditions for this unregulated, effectively illegal market to flourish right before our eyes,” Butler said.

‘A so-called prescription model with virtually no recipes, a ban without real enforcement and an addictive product without support to quit.’