Started seeing tobacconists selling disposable vapes back in early 2021, now there's a tobacconist/vape shop on every corner in Melbourne CBD and most suburban retail strips.
What's the go? Isn't it illegal to sell nicotine vapes now? How are these shops operating so openly??
It seems like a bit of a joke that we outlawed nicotine vape liquids and now we have more head shops than 7-11s, selling a more harmful product (disposable vapes)
How are these shops operating so openly?
Same as shops that openly sell bongs.
People just order nicotine liquid from NZ. Just because it's illegal to sell here doesn't mean you can't import it.
These guys sell bongs too, in the past though it hasn't been that common but now they're popping up everywhere. It seems every shop that's been empty since COVID is now reopening as a vape shop. There's now one on almost every city block and every suburban retail strip I've been to in the past year has at least one shop selling vapes, if there wasn't a tobacconist there already there's now a head shop selling vapes and the usual head shop paraphernalia.
You can't import nicotine liquid legally to Australia, without a without a valid doctor's prescription.
Who cares?
Use the alternative market.
Almost all the nz shops will connect you with a doctor who will prescribe for you.
Children are finding vaping trendy and getting in on it. Yes, it's terrible.
https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2022/09/27/study…
These shops are so common now that if one knocks you back there's always a couple others close by.
Because their primary revenue stream isn't selling vapes. That's just a cover for other activities.
Are they though? If you're gonna run a front you'd think it would be something relatively innocent. There's the old saying "don't do anything illegal while you're doing something illegal".
@Cheaplikethebird: What are they (openly) doing illegal? The vapes sold here don't contain nicotine so legal.
@Cheaplikethebird: Hmm I see. Either they're exploiting some loophole or getting away with it because no one checks/cares.
Sydney stores don't sell anything with nicotine. Yet also every corner and one in front of the other.
@Hybroid: Most disposable vapes sold in Sydney do contain nicotine. The packaging has changed for Australia to evade authorities. All of the nicotine containing vapes won't show it on the outside unless its old stock.
As someone who quit smoking after 35 years with vaping (and then stopped vaping), its an important tool to assist people cease smoking. Please realise that while EVERY effort should be made to stop kids and teens accessing it, please factor in a shocking amount of these "stories" and "studies" are generated to co opt peoples outrage, usually people who have never smoked and already hated smokers……because they know they have a captive audience to beat down anyone who genuinely wants access to vaping. The whole "think of the children" emotive please is one they roll out because its an easy win in their attempt to punish anyone who legitimately wants to quit smoking via vaping….
Needed to be said….
Well, given it was a university study that collected wide data from interviewing the children themselves and we have an actual picture of children's usage (as opposed to theorising what they might be doing), no, I don't think it really needed to be said at all.
I agree that there are definitely bad faith operators out there with 'think of the children' hysteria… but that's not what is happening here.
Please also realise that anything published on The Conversation website should be taken with a grain of anti smoking bias and in fact beating down on smokers, because its the haven of "academics" (and i use that term loosely as theyre usually anti smoker agenda types) people like Simon Chapman who, as ive experienced personally over years, post there because they can easily have any rebuttals or comments they dont like easily curated off the site.
Any time you have people who would rather force people back on to cigarettes and watch them die while using "think of the children" emotive bs, then you have a problem….
Needed saying….too….
@[Deactivated]: I'm pro-vaping. I'm pissed off that we banned nicotine vape liquids only to let more dangerous and wasteful disposable devices become so prevalent. IMO the sale of these disposable vapes works in the favour of tobacco companies because it will be used to argue against vaping as a whole rather than just disposable vapes from China sold to schoolkids out of dodgy hole-in-the-wall shops.
@Cheaplikethebird: Yup, dark days now, before this latest crackdown id helped half a dozen multi decade smokers quit smoking via vaping….now people who would have legitimately benefitted form using vaping as quit tool (for fudge sake its an option on the NHS in the UK and in other countries) have both been let done by idiots liek former "Health" Minister Greg Hunt and the scare campaigns over "lung" issue stories (which were teens in the US vaping cheap dope pods with oil in them, real vapers dont vape anything with oil in it because they're a) not stupid and b) not teens), but i guess its better to just let everyone die while collecting taxes….
This country has some very stupid people in charge who are supposed to be improving peoples health. We get laughed at like we laugh at the Americans….
@[Deactivated]: I believe those dying in the USA were dying from vaping Vitamin E Acetate, which was being added as a kind of diluting agent in order to make more profit from selling vape liquid on the street. IE: The black market.
The data shows that, apart from some unknown flavours with limited data, vaping is a (profanity) better for your health than smoking. 95% safer is my memory when using vegetable glycol or propylene glycol and well known flavours, plus legal nicotine with a prescription which you can get for $50, makes vaping a much better thing to do than smoking.
Kids shouldn't do it, of course - but the more you demonize it, the more you make it "cool" for the kids to do it.
@[Deactivated]: I dunno, a link to a University of Sydney study and you're tossing around scare quotes around "studies" and "academics" like it's going out of style.
Go and buy a huge crumbed fish and lots of tartar sauce, then you can deal with the massive chip on your shoulder.
@CrowReally: been saving up that "gotcha" quote have we….
i deal in fact, not hypothetical scaremongering, but you do you…..
not to pinch your analogy, but they have you hook, line and sinker
let me guess, never smoked and like lauding it over others?
you seem to love beating down on people
@[Deactivated]: I dunno man, scare quotes about a University study you haven't even bothered to read. Not a great start to a compelling argument.
I'm fine with you being an anti-intellectual type, but doing that and being "oh by the way, I deal in facts, brother" is plain ridiculous.
Good on you for quitting the smoking, incidentally. (not sarcastic, I know how tough it is)
@[Deactivated]: "eveything is backhanded and beat down with you, isnt it"
My good on you for quitting thing was genuine. I can imagine you being skeptical about that given the tone of the rest of our discussion. Whether you believe me or not on that is another matter, I guess. But I did mean it.
I like to see myself as a monster who likes to beat down on the stupid, but I also fairly acknowledge the truth and greatness in others. And then more beat downs (because monster).
@CrowReally: Because i said i hadnt read it, did i?
Youre just hear to beat others down, get a new hobby mate
@[Deactivated]: "Youre just hear to beat others down, get a new hobby mate"
Switch the brain on, Crankenstein. I've already said I do it and that I enjoy doing it. Why on earth would I get a new hobby?
Huge profits because of all the addicts, and the high tax on cigarettes. Better than meth, I suppose.
Alcohol is high-profit too, but the big corporations totally control that. Small business thrives on the illegal markets that corporates avoid.
Prostitution is illegal in many states, but we still have a rub-n-tug on every corner.
Never has it been this blatant though. I mean yeah dodgy rub n tugs exist but not on every corner (maybe every corner of every industrial estate) and it's not an advertised service. These shops are everywhere and usually have them out on display and with signs showing what flavours they have stocked.
Same here in Sydney. All these little hole in the wall shops are popping up to just sell vapes. I feel like its similiar to all of the American candy stores that are set up to launder money. Wouldn't be surprised if the vape shops are doing the same.
Quite the opposite for the vapes. Lots of the shops encourage cash only sales to avoid a paper trail. If busts start happening, they're only on the hook for unsold stock.
Cash only sales are perfect for a business that is trying to launder money or avoid tax. Even if you do pay by card, they always scan the vape in as "stamps" or something like that.
Probably because the license to sell cigarettes is much different to selling flavoured vape sticks. They usually all claim the same thing, "It's just vapour and no drugs, its just vape juice, man."
Whenever I see people standing around vaping, all I can think of is Cyanide & Happiness cartoons.
If the shop isn't selling e-liquid or disposable devices that contain nicotine then it's all perfectly legal, not sure what they're slinging under the counter but I'd imagine it's no different to the local milkbar when I was a kid where once the owner got to know you they'd sell you cigarettes regardless of age.
It’s all HQD/IGET vapes which contain nicotine and while most of the CBD shops I’ve seen will have them in a cabinet all the shops I’ve been to outside of the city have them displayed openly on shelves.
My local Cellarbrations has them on the front counter lol…
It’s all HQD/IGET vapes which contain nicotine
Yeah seen those, there's no mention of nicotine on the device or packaging so maybe that's their loophole..
Yeah could be. They're pretty well known though, you look at any of the articles on teen vaping and it will be an IGET or HQD vape pictured (here, here, here). Also confirmed by TGA to confirm nicotine - https://www.tga.gov.au/resources/publication/tga-laboratory-…
As a school teacher, I see children vaping from low SES public to high SES private schools. It has become a very sad situation.
Future profit for health care companies…
So much easier to get away with than sneaking durries in the toilet blocks. At least your nostrils aren't being assaulted by Lynx Africa I guess.
Small business model is selling known cancer causing items (tobacco) and now broadened to a further product line that has been shown to cause acute poisoning in some. Aimed at attracting minors…..
For goodness sake dont you Woke Folk go impacting all of our freedums here…🤔
Totally off the subject, but what does everyone think about legalising pot in Oz?
Nope.
American will come to regret legalising it, after their already broken health system has to deal with the oncoming spike in mental health issues from a massive generational influx of pot smokers. As someone who has seen what everyday pot smoking has done to at least 4 people I've known, its a hard no from me.
Hard pro. Everyday consumer here, no mental health issues and have been full-time employed since leaving high school and I have a LOT of friends who are the same. I don't know of anyone who has had mental health issues brought on by cannabis that weren't also heavy users of alcohol and psychedelics and even then it's one person. Even if it did exacerbate mental health issues for a percentage of the population, prohibition hasn't done much to make it less readily available and only encourages more harmful methods of consumption.
It's pretty much already legal here with the ease of accessing medical cannabis. You can easily get a prescription via telehealth and get your medicine shipped to you the same day. Only problem is the driving laws here in Aus. I think Tas is the only state where you can drive with THC in your system if you're prescribed medicinal cannabis.
Ahh the female "expert" academic on ABC earlier this year. Name escapes me.
However, they're straight-faced bullshitting the clueless with easily checked non-sequiturs and outright lies.
Her highlight was (nicotine) "a chemical that affects BRAIN FUNCTION…!"
No mention of the fact that inhaled (don't drink it, kids) nictone actually SHARPENS mental acuity.
What she said, therefore, is technically and linguistically correct. The alarmist manner a trained medical scientist was bleating to a very accommodating talking-head — no journalists present — is completely disingenuous, idealistically driven and contrary to best practice overseas.
In the minds of the Coalition, there is no internet or news of overseas policy, so how would we suckers know? There's a small splinter group who are pro-vaping, and they quit smoking using e-cigs like millions of people the world over.
Including me.
There's a small splinter group who are pro-vaping, and they quit smoking using e-cigs like millions of people the world over.
Including me.
Well said.
I haven't quit. I quit drinking 5 years ago and do enjoy the vapes particularly with the hobbyist side of rebuildables. I have no plans to quit and have enough nicotine to last another 5 odd years.
The propaganda is tiring. I'm 45 and have had bronchitis every winter for as long as I can remember with a messy cough and wheezy breathing. Since vaping, zero coughing or breathing issues over two winters now. No one can tell me it is not a considerably safer option for one's health compared to combustible tobacco.
Well done. You're reaping the financial and health benefits. Sadly, that doesn't feed the bulldog.
Wife and I quit smokes in 2016 and haven't slipped, thanks to the milder vaping addiction. Milder, as big tobacco were busy adding hundreds of chemicals to enhance the addictive qualities of smokes.
Still addicted to nicotine, but I'm fitter and healthier now than I was at 18. Granted, not just quitting but exercise and nutrition too (I'm 52).
I was on the bus the other day and insidiously started to smell the characterically sweet, fruity smell of vaping.
I was getting off the bus on the next stop anyway so didn’t do much other than move to the front of bus, but it was no use as the vaporized vaping chemicals have completely permeated the entire bus.
Surely it’s not good to be breathing in these liquid vapor into one’s lungs.
Future health problems in the making here. Gonna cost the taxpayers more Medicare funding in the future.
Why is there not more regulation on vaping and regulating who can access them?
Why is there not more regulation on vaping and regulating who can access them?
Technically it is illegal to import and/or sell Nicotine Vapes, but almost all tobacconist/corner shop sells them.
It takes a lot of moving parts for the government to act - they'll get to it eventually
Why is there not more regulation on vaping and regulating who can access them?
Why didn't the driver kick them off?
It was the last stop soon. Or maybe the driver has their window open so no problems for them.
so no problems for them.
smoking is illegal on public transport.
Made a thread about this recently. It's pretty crazy how big the trend has become. As someone living in inner Melbourne vapes are everywhere now and the only people I see smoking durries are either 40+, bogan AF, or homeless and on top of that it seems every shopfront that has been empty since COVID has now been filled by a vape shop.
Ah I must have missed the thread. I’ll ask the mods to merge them then.
When cigarette companies come out voluntarily exiting the tobacco industry there has to be a catch: this is it.
come out voluntarily exiting the tobacco industry
not really voluntarily though…
Vaping Is The New Smoking
We seem to do the same thing over and over and expect different results.
Prohibition is not the answer - drugs, smoking, alcohol, etc. It doesn't work. If it's not one thing, it'll be another.
jv on 02/11/2022 - 11:23 Comment score below threshold.
