Anti-vape laws bolster nicotine black market

The Oz bought a nicotine prescription only for $85, and was never asked for it even by the most 'reputable' sellers when buying vapes for this story.

Sacha Edwards and Elle Higgins at Camperdown Park in Newtown. Picture: Sophia Morrison

The Oz bought a nicotine prescription only for $85, and was never asked for it even by the most 'reputable' sellers when buying vapes for this story.

Laws intended to crack down on the sale of vapes may have inadvertently bolstered the black market as vendors exploit a loophole in the current legislation to import e-cigarettes into Australia.

The regulation, introduced in response to growing concern over the health impact and prevalence of vapes, is also failing to prevent people from ordering nicotine and vape products containing nicotine and prescriptions for the highly addictive substance can be purchased online.

University of Sydney vaping expert Dr Jody Moller said the word 'nicotine' had disappeared from the packaging of e-cigarettes over the past few months after the new laws came into force.

Dr Moller said previously the nicotine content had been disclosed on the packaging and said the reason behind the disappearance was straightforward.

“If there’s no labelling of nicotine on the product obviously it can be much more easily sold in Australia,” she said.

“The only way to determine whether that contains nicotine or not is to actually test it [vape] in a laboratory.

“There’s no other way to determine if nicotine’s in there if it’s not actually on the label.”

Vapers can only purchase products containing nicotine if they have a valid prescription under laws introduced by the former Coalition government in October 2021.

Dr Moller said by removing the label it meant it was much easier for vendors to bring vapes into Australia because authorities would only be able to detect the nicotine if they seized the product and had them tested in a laboratory.

“It’s basically getting through a loophole,” she said.

“Because of the way we regulate cigarettes in Australia and it is the only nicotine-containing e-cigarettes and devices and liquids which are covered by the regulation.

“Anything that doesn’t have nicotine in it is legally available to anyone over the age of 18.”

Vapers can only purchase products containing nicotine if they have a valid prescription under laws introduced by the former Coalition government in October 2021 and all vaping products – regardless of whether they contain nicotine – can only be purchased by Australians 18 and over. 

The intent of the new regulation was to stop young people from becoming addicted to vapes while allowing smokers to continue to access them as a quitting aid.

The Oz purchased four vapes from stores in inner Sydney and was not asked for proof-of-age. Independent testing by the University of Wollongong found three of the four vapes contained nicotine.

At Camperdown Memorial Rest Park in the trendy suburb of Newtown in Sydney’s inner west, Sacha Edwards, 20, said he had been vaping for two-years and had only been asked for proof-of-age once.

“I found it to be a pretty galling experience given they were selling them [vapes] to me illegally,” Mr Edwards said, adding he had taken up vaping to quit cigarettes.

The Oz purchased a prescription for $85 from a website called QuitClinics after filling out a questionnaire.

The Oz was not asked for the script when purchasing products containing nicotine – including 200mls of high strength liquid nicotine – from New Zealand based online store Mixology Vape.

The parcel containing the vapes arrived a couple of weeks later and included a sticker that said “To whom it may concern, customer prescription cited.

“As per the New Zealand Consume Privacy Act, the prescription document is unable to be shared with third parties.”

A QuitClinics spokesperson said all users were required to verify their age and identity before undergoing a consultation and said the median age of their patients was 39 and only 2% were 21 or younger.

“QuitClinics.com fully supports further research into the safety and efficacy of vaping as a quit smoking treatment, alongside the doubling down on efforts to limit the illegal sale of vaping products to younger people, particularly incorrectly labelled nicotine vapes,” said the spokesperson.

“Current medical research suggests that vaping is significantly safer than smoking, but to be clear, vaping is not risk free.”

Cancer treatment centre Chris O’Brien Lifehouse specialist nurse Amy O’Donnell said the short term implications of vaping were just starting to be understood and inhaling anything other than air was unhealthy.

“If someone wants to quit smoking, we advise them to quit smoking,” she said.

“We would never say ‘Have you tried vaping?’ That’s just not something we would bring up with a patient.”

Mixology Vape did not respond to a request for comment before deadline.