The Scourge of the Vape Industry: Disposable Vapes Designed to Addict
The Queensland parliamentary inquiry into reducing rates of e-cigarette use amongst children has uncovered shocking findings, with more than 80 per cent of disposable vapes sold on the Gold Coast shown to illegally contain nicotine. This inquiry was announced in March amid the increasing reports of young children becoming addicted to vaping products.
Key points:
- The principal at a Gold Coast school noticed an increase in vaping among students at the beginning of 2021.
- Public health officials have noted that most disposable vapes contain high amounts of nicotine.
- Vape vendors are advocating for increased policing on black market disposable vapes.
- A licensing scheme would regulate the industry, making it more difficult for children to access vapes.
At the beginning of 2021, the Principal of AB Paterson College on the Gold Coast Joanne Sheehy observed e-cigarettes being used on school grounds amongst students.
She goes on to state that ‘this has lead the school to implement education programs regarding vaping.’
At Thursday’s public hearing in Southport, Anne Cowdry, the acting director of public and environmental health at the Gold Coast Public Health Unit (GCPHU), reported that the availability of disposable vapes containing nicotine had “exploded” since 2021. The GCPHU has confiscated over 11,000 disposable vapes since 2019 due to community complaints.
She said laboratory tests on 1,518 of these vapes showed that 83 per cent illegally contained nicotine.
“Most of the vapes that we are seeing which do contain nicotine do not have labeling. There is no indication that they have nicotine in them.”
“The amount of nicotine in each product varies.”
“The average was about 35,000 to 45,000 milligrams of nicotine per kilogram.”
“The highest we found was 190,000 milligrams per kilogram.”
The average nicotine content in tobacco is about 10 to 20 milligrams per gram (10,000 to 20,000 milligrams per kilogram).
Put in simple terms the results are showing disposable vapes often contain 35 – 100mgs of nicotine in them. This is more than any cigarette has, which generally has 10 – 20mgs.
An Assortment Of Disposable Vape Devices
A disposable vape is a single unit system, prefilled with liquid and disposable once the liquid runs out. They are not the refillable, reusable, more sustainable kind the vape industry sells to adult vapers as a smoking cessation device.
It has been noted that the ‘Juul’ manufactured by tobacco company Philip Morris is the precursor to all disposable vapes.
The Juul is the very model the black market vape devices infiltrating our schools are based on.
This inquiry coincides with an awarded $28 billion in punitive damages against tobacco maker Philip Morris with evidence showing that they actively marketed their products to children.
Ms Cowdry, when asked during the inquiry if the vapes they tested were disposable, answered “the ones we have seized recently have all been the one-use, disposable kind. They are not refillable.”
'Disposable vapes designed to addict'
The Insides Of A 'Cheap and Nasty' Disposable Vape Device.
‘The vape industry doesn’t sell the black market disposable vapes. We’re finding these are often sold in tobacconists, corner stores, newsagents and on social media channels.”
Leah Tankard, a vape vendor from Mount Tamborine, described disposable vapes as the “Scourge of the industry” and argued that they should be banned.
“The vape industry doesn’t sell the black market disposable vapes,” She stated. “We’re finding these are often sold in tobacconists, corner stores, newsagents and on social media channels,”
“Disposable vapes are what are causing the increase in children taking up vaping.”
“We don’t want [vapes] in the hands of children, they’re an adult product.”
She stated ‘It is an all-in-one system. The children who are accessing them will get their device. It will be prefilled with a liquid and that liquid will almost always contain nicotine.’
“With the high amount of nicotine in them plus all the added sweeteners, they are designed to get people addicted”
“[Disposable Vapes] are not being made to the same standards as the world-renowned brands that vape vendors stock.”
She went on to say, “with the legal vape industry, it is a [multi-step] process.” You need to purchase your device, and purchase your e-liquid to go into that device separately. You will also need to obtain a prescription from a doctor to then be allowed to legally purchase your nicotine, which once you have it, you add to your e-liquid . You then need to fill your device with the nicotine eliquid. Then and only then are you vaping with nicotine eliquid. Ms Tankard states, “Children are not going to be bothered with that.” This is simply “too much hassle for a child.”
“We want the government to understand the distinction between the disposables and the actual vaping industry, which is a productive industry because vaping is important for people trying to stop smoking. Often people are coming to vaping because they have first tried all the other methods”
Ms Tankard stated “the vaping industry does not exist to rein in adults who didn’t already have an addiction—[and] it has nothing to do with children. The vaping industry exists to support adult smokers who want to use a vape device to transition away from the more harmful cigarettes. It is a quitting aid. It is a tobacco harm reduction method. That is what it is.”
“We want the government to understand the distinction between the [black market] disposables and the actual vaping industry, because vaping is important for people trying to stop smoking.”
Ms Tankard said that Australia’s attitude towards vaping is less progressive than other countries with comparable public health systems, such as New Zealand and the U.K.
“We welcome the sensible regulation of vape products to make them accessible and safer for adult smokers to purchase as well as to protect the vulnerable like the youth. We would like to see legal nicotine products more available to adult smokers rather than the failed prescription method.”
In the UK, smokers are being encouraged to use vapes instead of cigarettes, and pregnant women are even offered financial incentives to help them quit tobacco smoking.
Additionally, she stated that the prescription model for nicotine in Australia “has been a flop”
“When the prescription model came in a few years ago, we lost half our market when the black market started up.”
It’s interesting to note that Ms Cowdry, from Gold Coast Public Health Unit (GCPHU), reported that the availability of disposable vapes containing nicotine had “exploded” since 2021. This is the very year the prescription model was brought in.
“The vape industry is 100% behind regulation and licensing and classing vapes and eliquids as an adult consumer product just like cigarettes and alcohol.”
What vape vendors and vapers alike want is a regulated industry that includes classing vapes and eliquids as an adult consumer product just like cigarettes and alcohol. Introduce licensing and then as Ms Cowdy explained “If there were a licensing scheme, it would allow us to check better and regulate better than we currently are able”
There is currently a few senators in the corner of the vape vendors who are calling for regulation of this industry, to stamp out black market vapes, whilst supporting an industry that in turn supports adult smokers who want to use industry quality vape devices.
Senator Hollie Hughes has recently stated “there’s actually a very simple solution to this. Vaping needs to be regulated, it needs to be licensed and it needs to be taxed as a consumer product. It is an adult consumer product, the same way that cigarettes and alcohol are adult consumer products.
The vaping prohibition model has already failed. Since the implementation of this prescription model we have only seen the vaping black market increase. And of course when you create a black market, you create the conditions for a crime syndicate to flourish. To nobody’s surprise, it turns out the criminals are more than happy to supply kids with vapes.”
