New penalties for selling illegal vapes carrying huge fines and jail, but a leading retailer said they will have no affect

Retailers selling illegal vapes have been threatened with huge new fines and jail if they’re caught, but Toowoomba’s dealers are still going strong, openly peddling the products from storefronts as the new laws took effect.

Despite the Queensland Government passing new laws to clamp down on illegal vape sales, several stores across Toowoomba continue to sell the addictive products openly from storefronts.

Retailers caught selling illegal vapes and cigarettes will face two years in jail or fines of $322,600 for an individual, or $1.6 million for a corporation.

While the laws were passed in Brisbane it appears no one has told Toowoomba’s retailers.

The Chronicle visited several retailers in the city’s CBD that were openly selling illegal disposable vapes.

Kingvapealot owner Craig Farquharson has been in business for almost a decade selling reusable vaporisers and non-nicotine flavouring, but stopping trading while he waits for licence to be approved

He put the uncontrolled sales down to confusion over the changing laws and the sluggish licensing process. .

“We are selling tobacco and related products, and we still get people coming in asking for vapes,” he said.

“The public is dumbfounded and it’s too hard to get reusable vapes, so they are going back to smoking cigarettes or disposable vapes.”

Toowoomba business owner Craig Farquharson said the new penalties won’t change how illegal vapes retailers operate.

Under federal laws, only licensed retailers and pharmacies are allowed to sell the liquid nicotine used in vaporisers, but very few chemists offer the product.

The Pharmacy Guild of Australia publicly opposed the Federal Government’s bill to remove the need for prescription to buy nicotine vapes.

“Vaping has long-term patient harms, including cancer, lung-scarring and nicotine addiction. There is limited evidence to support the use of vaping products for smoking cessation and nicotine dependence,” a guild spokeswoman said.

“Everyone wants to keep illegal vapes out of the hands of kids and teenagers, but the Senate wants pharmacists to stock vapes next to children’s Panadol, cold and flu medicine, and emergency contraception.”

Despite this opposition, the changes passed in federal parliament and will come into effect on October 1.

With few pharmacies selling prescription nicotine, Mr Farquharson said the black market trade remained rampant.

“The Federal Government has done five eighths of **** all to stop disposable vapes from coming into the country,” he said.

“There was something like 100 million disposable vapes illegally imported last year.”

In 2023-2024, State and Federal authorities, including Queensland Health and Queensland Police Service, seized more than 24.5 million illicit cigarettes, 9.1 tonnes of loose tobacco and 223,020 vapes.

They also carried out 1410 inspections and surveillance activities and undertook 1636 enforcement actions, including written warnings, improvement notices, on-the-spot fines, seizures, and legal proceedings.

Meanwhile, vaping use has increased.

According to recent data from Queensland 35.6 per cent teens had tried a vape, while the number of young adults, aged 18-29 using vapes has doubled in the past five years to 45.3 per cent.

Meanwhile, the number of tobacco smokers has halved in the past 20 years.

Just 2.9 per cent of teens smoke tobacco today, down from 29.8 per cent in 1996.

Originally published as New penalties for selling illegal vapes carrying huge fines and jail, but a leading retailer said they will have no affect