Dozens of vape sellers near SE Qld high schools

At least 17 vape stores and tobacconists are selling e-cigarettes a short walk from southeast Queensland high schools. Dozens more convenience stores that sell vapes are also on school routes. SEE WHERE THE STORES ARE LOCATED.

Medical and education authorities have condemned the number of outlets selling vaping products near southeast Queensland secondary schools as the vape crisis spirals out of control.

Quest Newspapers can reveal at least 17 specialist vape stores or tobacconists selling vapes, or e-cigarettes, are operating within 1km of schools.

Most are within 500m and several are in shopping centres adjacent to high schools where students congregate in large numbers.

Dozens more IGAs and other convenience stores which sell vaping products are near schools or on walking routes taken by students.

There is no suggestion these stores are selling to underage children.

As schools battle to control the spread of vaping, now affecting children as young as Year 4, medical and education authorities say controls need to be put in place, with most stores prominently displaying the products.

“We know the use of e-cigarettes and vaping products is increasing. It’s such a shame because Australia has led the world in cracking down on cigarettes,’’ Australian Medical Association Queensland’s Council of General Practice chair, Dr Maria Boulton, said.

“The last thing we want is to create a new generation of nicotine addicts.

“I think the location of some of these stores is going against the good work done on cigarette smoking.

“If (manufacturers) are going to market to children, these locations are perfect.’’

Indooroopilly resident Rebecca Kalianiotis said she was deeply concerned at the opening of new vape store, Panda Smokes, near the Indooroopilly train station.

Panda Smokes, as well as Bunker Vape Co on nearby Station Rd, are both on a walking route connecting major schools with the train and Indooroopilly Shopping Centre.

Hundreds of Brigidine College, Indooroopilly State High School and St Peters Lutheran College students use the walking route every day.

Panda Smokes on Lambert Rd, Indooroopilly. Hundreds of students from three secondary schools walk past it every afternoon on the way to trains, buses and a shopping centre.

“I’ve lived in the area for quite a while,’’ Ms Kalianiotis said.

“I’m really worried vaping will see a whole other health issue arise.

“It worries me when we live in a suburb with so many school children. We all hope he (Panda Smokes) doesn’t do much trade and has to close.

“We don’t want these kind of stores in our neighbourhood, they need to be in appropriate locations.’’

Ms Kalianiotis said she had never seen children enter the store, but said: “All it takes is a student who is 18 to buy vapes for their friends’’.

Panda Smokes owner, Chris, confirmed many children walked past his store and said some had tried to enter while in school uniform, but they were always told to leave.

“My staff are trained that when they are in school uniform we will say ‘please get out’,’’ he said.

“If they look under 18 we ask them to show their ID.

“They always say they don’t have their ID so (we tell them to leave).’’

He said Panda had sold vapes containing nicotine when it was still legal to do so, but now no longer stocked those products.

He said the current law was “really stupid’’ because users could order nicotine vapes online or easily obtain them through some “dodgy’’ shops.

Cignall tobacconist at The Gap Village shopping centre is only metres from where The Gap State High School students congregate. It sells toys and lollies, but the operators say they have strict controls to ensure minors are not served and do not stock vapes containing nicotine.

A Cignall tobacconist outlet stirred up a social media storm when it opened earlier this year in The Gap Village shopping centre, metres from where students at the adjacent high school hang out in the afternoon.

The store also sells toys, displayed in its window, and lollies, but the two brothers who operate it defended the location.

“I am totally disgusted to see a shop selling tobacco products open in our shopping centre,’’ one resident posted.

“Cigarettes are a proven health hazard leading to cancer and other health problems and causing early deaths for many.

“This is particularly so in a shopping centre which is next door to both a high school and a primary school. I wish I could give negative stars.’’

Vapes come in hundreds of flavours, such as peppermint and bubblegum, which are attractive to children.

But some, such as Kevin F, posted: “The staff are the friendliest I’ve seen in years, their range of non-tobacco products is awesome. So glad I’ve got a new local smokeshop.’’

Cignall The Gap said vaping was only a minor part of their business.

“We don’t stock vapes with nicotine,’’ they said.

“We have very strict controls, we don’t even sell lighters to kids but Coles (next door) does.

“Coles sells tobacco at the front desk. They sell toys, fruit and vegetables and all sorts of things.

“There are also five liquor stores nearby (including a BWS about 10m away).’’

The Gap State High School (TGSHS) is one of many secondary schools to get on the front foot, holding an information session for parents about vaping in June.

But TGSHS students Quest Newspapers spoke to said vaping was rife among “TCs’’ (too cools).

Several students approached outside Cignall said that they had never entered it, had never seen any students enter, or knew of any who had done so.

“You can always tell when they’ve (TCs) been vaping because they smell like pineapple or blueberry. That’s why I try not to use the toilets at school,’’ one TGSHS student said.

Dr Boulton said the bright, toylike packaging and lolly-like flavours of vapes were deeply concerning as they were attractive to children and the long-term health effects of inhaling the flavouring agents were unknown.

But lobby group Legalise Vaping Australia defended the products and the location of vape outlets.

“If you’re selling legal products in areas zoned for commercial retail it should be OK,’’ spokesman Gabe Buckley said.

“Clubs, pokies and adult book stores are all in these locations (near schools).

“We have lived with that for many, many decades and tobacconists have been around for centuries.

Vapes are openly sold on social media platforms such as Snapchat.

“Is it really better to shield people from information right up until they’re 18 and then let them loose on the world?’’

Mr Buckley said advertising of vapes was minimal compared with cigarette advertising in previous decades.

“You don’t see the Marlboro man holding up a vape on billboards,’’ he said.

Schools have been doing their best to control the rise in vaping but are facing an uphill battle with vaporisers, which retail for about $90 to $150, easy to hide.

Some are designed to look like asthma inhalers.

VAPING RISKS: WHAT PARENTS NEED TO KNOW

The products are openly sold on Snapchat and shown on other social media platforms widely used by children such as TikTok.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) said it was illegal to import e-cigarettes containing nicotine without a valid prescription from a registered medical practitioner.

They must only be used under the Personal Importation Scheme to help someone quit smoking.

Only about 70 doctors in Australia have signed up to be authorised prescribers.

But in June police uncovered 150,000 vapes containing nicotine as part of a two-year operation into illegal tobacco in the Logan and South Brisbane districts.

Vape pens are often brightly coloured, small and easy to hide or sometimes manufactured to resemble Ventolin inhalers. Picture: Tim Hunter.

Last year’s annual report from the Queensland Chief Health Officer revealed that, in 2017, about 16 per cent of Queensland secondary students aged 12 to 17 had used e-cigarettes.

Of those, about one in three had done so in the previous month.

Male students were twice as likely as female students to have tried them — 20 per cent compared to 11 per cent.

Calamvale Community College executive principal Lisa Starmer last month said the school had suspended students as young as Year 4 for “bringing and sharing vapes”.

And Marsden State High School head of department Laura Baker recently told parents it was “very concerning to see the number of Year 7 students vaping at school”.

Kelvin Grove State College has formed an “anti-vaping committee” aiming to promote “healthy choices” to their peers.

Woodridge, Cavendish Road, Beenleigh and Dakabin State High School are among many other schools to address the issue.

The Queensland Teachers Union said its members were vigilant, but schools were responsible for policing the problem and educating students and their parents.

“If vaping is observed as becoming an issue for students in schools, then our members act as they always do,’’ a QTU spokesman said.

“They provide information to students and the community, including parents related to health impacts and educate in relation emerging health issues.

“Schools apply the school code of conduct in relation to managing student behaviours, which include vaping and smoking, on school premises.’’

Shadow Minister for Education, Dr Christian Rowan, who is also an addiction medicine specialist, said: “There are significant health risks associated with vaping, including damage to lung function, memory loss, impaired concentration and risks to brain development”.

“There needs to be more regulation, particularly as to how these products are marketed to young adults and students, and also further consideration of the location of outlets selling vaping products, and their proximity to schools,” Dr Rowan said.

“There must be a zero tolerance to vaping and smoking in our schools. The State Government needs to all it can to ensure that these products are not in our schools.”

WHERE THE STORES ARE LOCATED

NORTH

1) Deception Bay Market Square School; Deception Bay State High School: Less than 500m from school;

2) Super Vape, Anzac Ave Kallangur; Murrumba State Secondary College: Less than 1km from school;

3) Deja Vu, Sandgate Rd, Nundah; Mary MacKillop College: Less than 500m from school;

4) Everton Park Lotto and Cignall, Stafford Rd, Everton Park; Everton Park state High: less than 500m from school; and

5) Cignall, The Gap Village Shopping Centre; Gap State High School: less than 200m from school.

CITY

1) Petra Convenience Store, Boundary St, West End; Brisbane State High School: Less than 500m from school.

SOUTH

1) Vapes and Clouds, 700 Logan Rd, Greenslopes; Loretto College: Less than 500m from school;

2) Garden City shopping centre, Mt Gravatt; MacGregor State High school: Less than 500m from school; and

3) Free Choice, Finucane Rd, Alexandra Hills; Alexandra Hills State High School: Less than 500m from school.

WEST

1) Smoke Mart Vape Square, Riverlink Shopping Centre, Downs St, Ipswich North; St Edmund’s College, Ipswich Grammar School: Less than 500m from school;

2) Vape Station, Ipswich Rd, Booval; Bundamba State Secondary College; St Edmund’s College: Less than 1km from school; and

3) Vape Station TSG, Redbank Plains; Redbank Plains State High School: Less than 500m from school.

For information on vaping phone the Government hotline on 13 74 68