How children are using legal loophole to buy vaping products

Retailers are being busted selling black market vaping products to children as young as 12 by flouting a legal loophole.

Children as young as 12 are brazenly buying black market vaping products because of a legal loophole.

A Herald Sun investigation can reveal dozens of tobacconists in Victoria are thumbing their noses at the law to such an extent that they are openly selling illegal vaping products to children as young as 12 who are in their school uniforms.

It comes after the Herald Sun revealed elite schools were also conducting bathroom patrols and bag checks to flush out students vaping between classes.

It is illegal under state law for anyone to sell or supply nicotine-containing e-cigarettes, but individuals are able to import up to three months’ supply for their personal use with a prescription.

A Windsor retailer stocking vaping products was allegedly serving underage customers. Picture: Alex Coppel

The Herald Sun visited several tobacconists, milk bars and small grocers in Melbourne’s southeast and inner east, with retailers openly promoting the black market goods showing nicotine labels in their display cabinets.

Staff were also seen not asking teens for identification or giving receipts upon purchase of the illegal goods.

In one Chapel St tobacconist, young teens in school uniforms were seen lined up in stores and presented with cardboard-made and handwritten price lists of vaping products, with prices from as little as $18 for 300 puffs.

In another Springvale tobacconist, dozens of students were seen buying the illegal vaping products, with shop owners enticing them to buy the “latest flavours”.

A Springvale shop where children in school uniforms were allegedly buying vaping products. Picture: Alex Coppel

Victoria’s lack of scrutiny has been labelled as “shocking” by QUIT Victoria, with authorities having no way to track rogue operators due to a lack of a central register, which would identify all retailers selling tobacco and e-cigarettes.

In other states including NSW, a licensing scheme has allowed authorities to keep a log of retailers, issue fines and seize more than 40,000 vapes in the past year.

But in Victoria the Department of Health was unable to provide the Herald Sun with how many breaches had been made.

QUIT Victoria director Dr Sarah White said she was “horrified” shop owners were brazenly selling vaping products to children in school uniforms.

Another student seen visiting a Springvale retailer. Picture: Alex Coppel

Vaping products.

A price list for illegal vaping products.

“Victorian retailers need to be on a register like in other states so they can have communication updates on law changes and they can be reminded of their obligations under the law,” Dr White said.

“This means retailers can also be issued warnings, meaning if they are caught out they will be fined, have their license suspended or revoked.

“This deters retailers, communicates with them and strongly enforces the law for people who are not prepared to do the right thing.”

Dr White said vaping was known to cause local irritation and damage through the respiratory tract due to an accumulation of exposure to the chemicals including nicotine, which can cause long-term effects of the cardiovascular system.

In recent months, schools across Melbourne have also issued warnings about vaping in several newsletters and at assemblies, with some teachers saying the problem is “out of control”.

Marymede Catholic College deputy principal staff and operations David Broadbent said in a recent newsletter: “There have recently been reports of an increase in young people experimenting with vaping, a practice more dangerous to health than smoking.”

No vaping signs have also been placed around several schools to warn children of the dangers.

The Herald Sun has also uncovered dozens of social media accounts where teens ask where to buy vapes and also brag about selling them for as cheap as $20.

On TikTok, users posted videos captioned “Where can I buy a cheap disposable vape in Melbourne without ID?” and “In need of some cheap vapes that don’t need an ID.”

In another shocking post, a female private school student wrote: “Proud of my nic addiction”.

In Victoria the Department of Health and councils are able to conduct spot checks on retailers selling tobacco and e-cigarette products.

“The Victorian Government funds local councils to carry out tobacco education and enforcement and council Environmental Health Officers are authorised to enforce the provisions of the Tobacco Act 1987. Local councils may also create their own local laws around smoking and e-cigarette use,” A Department of Health spokesman said.

Education Minister James Merlino said: “Smoking and vaping is already banned in our schools, however I have asked the Department of Education to conduct an audit of what resources are currently available to schools on vaping and talk with schools to identify if we need further education programs and support in our schools”.

‘LIKE LOLLIES IN A CANDY SHOP’

Every morning when Olivia* wakes up she instantly craves the “head rush” she will feel when she sucks on her vape.

Like many young teens, the 14-year-old started vaping when she was 12, and can’t shake the dangerous habit.

There are growing concerns that more students are vaping at school. Picture: Alex Coppel

At recess, she and her friends who attend an elite school in Melbourne’s inner east, huddle together in the last toilet cubicle and pass around a fruit-flavoured vape.

Despite several warnings in the classroom about e-cigarettes, they continue to inhale the vapes and make plans to buy different flavours after school.

After the final bell rings at 3.30pm, she and her friends make their way to Chapel St to visit the tobacconist which is well-known among pupils as where they can buy the “nic”.

Inside the shop, dozens of vape flavours with nicotine warnings are brazenly displayed inside the glass cabinet in plain sight, like lollies in a candy shop.

The shop worker pulls a disposable vape price list, made from cardboard, from under the counter showing 300 puffs for $18 to 1800 puffs for $35.

“You should try the energy drink flavour, I can give you a discount … two flavours for $60,” the worker says to the group of girls.

The group rummage through the pockets and pull out several $20 notes and pass the cash to the worker, who doesn’t provide them with a receipt.

Outside the shop, Olivia and her friends bragged to the Herald Sun about how easy it is to buy the products: “They don’t ask for ages or ID, it’s really easy,” they said.

“Our school has been cracking down on it, there’s been heaps of announcements made,” one girl said.

“We just love the instant head rush that we get.”

One of the other girls said Snap Maps, a feature of social media app Snapchat which shows videos posted across the city, often featured posts of students using vapes in schools.

This scenario is played out in other suburbs across Melbourne’s southeast including Springvale, which has become a honey pot for black market vapes with even small Chinese grocery stores selling the products.

Dozens of students were seen walking in and out of two tobacconists on Buckingham Ave.

Inside one of the shops, the worker hands young teens handwritten price lists showing more than 30 flavours from as little as $12 for 300 puffs to $28 for 1800 puffs.

Nearby the shop, students are seen unwrapping the vapes and begin smoking them with their friends.

When the Herald Sun spotted another group of students vaping nearby a primary school, they were asked why they did it?

Hidden behind by a cloud of vape smoke, the boys who are between 12 to 14, share around multiple flavoured vapes and take turns at inhaling.

“Everyone has them, they’re so easy to get,” one boy, 13, said.

“No one smokes at school anymore, we just vape,” another boy, 14, said.

*Not her real name.