'$50 cash': Vapes still available in Canberra shops despite federal ban

When The Canberra Times visited a vape shop in Canberra's north on Monday - the day the federal ban took effect - flavoured nicotine vapes were available for $50 cash.

A menu was presented with a long list of flavours such as Lush Ice, Mixed Berry, Double Apple and Strawberry Lychee.

Some flavours were crossed out, with the retail assistant explaining: "We can only get what we can get."

Asked about the increase in cost of a product that was available last year for about $35, the retail attendant said illicit vapes were becoming "very hard to get ... for obvious reasons."

As for whether the shop would keep selling vapes, the answer given was: "We'll be open as long as we can stay open."

The vape shop visited, which this masthead has chosen not to name, is a short walk from multiple schools, with the nearest being a college located 650 metres away.

The Albanese government's legislation banning nicotine vapes sold outside chemists passed last week after a deal with the Greens to allow pharmacists to sell them over-the-counter to adults from 1 October.

Until then, a GP prescription is needed to access nicotine vapes legally.

Health Minister Mark Butler told reporters in Canberra last Tuesday, as the government was still finalising crossbench support needed to pass its bill in the Senate: "Only therapeutic vapes will be able to be sold from the 1st of July, and they will only be able to be sold in therapeutic settings, namely pharmacies."

On Monday, he called for patience, telling reporters in Canberra: "The laws only took effect today".

"From today, I just again, want to remind businesses, it is illegal to sell vapes outside of a pharmacy setting after a conversation with a qualified health professional," he said.

"There are very serious penalties in the legislation the Parliament passed last week, fines of up to $2.2 million, jail time of up to seven years, if you breach those laws."

For corporations, the maximum penalty is $21.2 million.

"We expect businesses to comply with this, we are very deadly serious about making sure these laws work," Mr Butler said.

"What this will require on the ground is cooperation between the TGA and state [and territory] health authorities. They will be conducting operations."

But the ACT government is yet to agree to enforcement guidelines.

The minister responsible in the territory is Minister for Population Health Emma Davidson, an ACT Greens MLA who is advocating for reforms to decriminalise the unauthorised personal possession of nicotine under ACT legislation.

She told the Legislative Assembly on Thursday: "Let's not pretend that the federal legislation is something that it isn't."

"We need to stop framing vapes a therapeutic product. Restricting the sale of regulated vapes to pharmacies, and indeed imposing that on pharmacies is no different to expecting pharmacies to sell light beer as an alternative to higher alcohol beer," Ms Davidson said in the speech.

"In the absence of legislative interventions that will realistically reduce black market vape supply, under-18s are more likely to be the target market than they were before."

State and territory enforcement has long been a sticking point for stopping the sale of vapes in retail stores, while the federal government is responsible for stopping imports of illicit tobacco and vapes at the border.

On Monday afternoon, Therapeutic Goods Administration officers visited a number of stores across Canberra and Sydney to warn retailers about the new laws and potential penalties.

In a statement, Ms Davidson said while it was "unquestionable that vaping is harmful ... The only way to get rid of an unregulated black market is to replace it with a regulated one."

"Leaving the possibility open for young people to be locked up for having a vape in their possession not only increases disadvantage, but also disincentives young people from accessing healthcare," she said.

"We've seen in New Zealand that regulating vapes as a consumer product significantly reduces black market supply and rates of tobacco smoking."

The federal Coalition last week announced its policy is to regulate and tax nicotine vapes sold in retail stores.

An ACT government spokesperson said ACT Health was working with the federal health department and Therapeutic Goods Administration to implement the ban.

"The ACT takes a harm minimisation approach to alcohol and other drugs and part of this is to ensure people using e-cigarettes are not subject to criminal offences," the spokesperson said.

"The ACT government is considering mechanisms to support the Commonwealth vaping reforms by decriminalising the unauthorised personal possession of nicotine under ACT legislation."

In an interview, Illicit Tobacco and E-cigarette Commissioner Erin Dale said coordination between state and territory police and health authorities was needed, including risk assessments for enforcement operations, given the involvement of organised crime in the illicit vape trade.

Ms Dale, appointed to the newly created role by Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil and Mr Butler on Monday, said national intelligence sharing would boost enforcement at both at retail level and in pursuit of syndicates profiting from the illicit trade..