Major crackdown on vapes in one state – what you need to know

Shops selling illegal vapes are being watched by a state government looking to financially disrupt the booming underground market and increase the impact of federal action.

Queensland Health Minister Tim Nicholls revealed the government is considering more extreme measures to disrupt supply chains by imposing higher fines on retailers.

Currently, Queensland Health officials can issue a fine of $3,200 to individual retailers and $10,000 to businesses.

“To the extent that they’re selling these vapes and illicit tobacco, that’s just a drop in the ocean, that’s like a flea bite to some of these operators,” Nicholls said.

“We currently have 350 to 400 stores under supervision… by the time we get to court, where the fines are heavier… they will have already made the money back.”

However, Mr Nicholls did not provide details on the increase in fines or when to expect legislative reform.

“I think we want to make sure they’re right, and we want to make sure we don’t just get multiple bites as icing on the cake,” he told reporters.

“The goal is to remove the financial incentive and make it more expensive to run the business than the profit it generates.”

In October 2024, the federal government made sweeping changes to the sale of vapes, making it illegal to purchase them anywhere other than pharmacies.

Small retailers and convenience stores, which traditionally sold cigarettes, lost a significant market when pharmacies became the only place where nicotine-containing vapors were sold.

But Mr Nicholls said the laws do not go far enough to provide a ‘deterrent’.

“A 72-hour closure means someone just gets a long weekend,” he said.

“What we want to be able to do is hit them in the hip pocket so that when they have a long weekend, they don’t use it to go to Hampton Island.”

Selling nicotine vapors had been illegal since 2021 under laws introduced by the previous coalition government, but many retailers continued to blatantly sell them illegally.

In an effort to address the shortcomings in previous legislation and tackle the supply of vapes in convenience stores, Health Minister Mark Butler introduced a nationwide ban on the import of disposable vapes from January 1 last year.

In 2023, Australian men were urged to ditch their vapes after research found a link between e-cigarette smoking and erectile dysfunction.

Currently, Queensland Health officials can issue a fine of $3,200 to individual retailers and $10,000 to businesses. Stock image of fumes

Vapes were previously marketed as a safer alternative to cigarettes, but there has been evidence in recent years that the electronic devices cause similar damage to the body.

Experts warn that vapes can damage a user’s DNA, cause breathing problems, promote tumors, increase the risk of lung cancer and heart disease, and may even be linked to erectile dysfunction.

A study published by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine analyzed data on e-cigarette use in approximately 13,000 men over the age of 18.

It found that healthy men aged 20 to 65 who vaped were more than twice as likely to experience erectile dysfunction than men who did not vape.

“ENDS (electronic nicotine delivery systems) were associated with erectile dysfunction ‘independent of age, cardiovascular disease, and other risk factors,'” the study wrote.

Australia’s leading urologist, Doctor Chris Love, told Daily Mail Australia the results of the study were ‘concerning’.

He said it is critical to educate doctors and the public about the long-term effects of vaping on men’s sexual health.

“It’s worth bringing it back to people’s attention because a lot of vapes contain nicotine and that’s the root of the problem,” Dr Love said.

‘There are many things young men do early in life that can affect them, and lifestyle factors are important in developing conditions later.

‘Vaping fits into that group of things that we believe you should not do if you want to keep yourself healthy in the future.’