Nearly 1,000 nicotine e-cigarettes were seized from the food and beverage business in Bunbury, Western Australia (WA).
Since October, it has been illegal for retailers in Australia to sell e-cigarette products without a doctor's prescription. Despite the national ban, e-cigarettes are said to be increasingly common, especially among young people, and the products are reportedly still easy to buy. Infact WA Health has written to more than 3,000 retailers to warn them of the recent restrictions.
Wa Health spokesman Dr Michael Lindsay said the department had seized more than 16,000 illegal nicotine e-cigarettes over three years, with the 2019 National Drug Strategy Household Survey showing a 23 per cent increase in e-cigarette users.
Similarly, Vicky Sheppeard of public Health in the South East Sydney Local Health District in New South Wales said spot checks were being carried out because of an increase in e-cigarette use among high school students.
"We are talking to head teachers who are very aware and concerned about the growing number of young people vaping. Unfortunately, we have learned that while usage does increase with age, it is not limited to younger students, and we have received reports of e-cigarette use in elementary school students, "Sheppeard added.
Infact NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell recently announced a series of actions to address problems in schools. "That's a problem. I mean, obviously we're seeing more e-cigarettes among young people; E-cigarettes in schools are a growing concern, "she said. "Schools are smoke-free environments and tobacco products, including e-cigarettes and vaping, are banned on campus."
Meanwhile, Dr Alex Wodak, from the Australian Tobacco Harm Reduction Association, said current e-cigarette regulations had nothing to do with the risks. "We know that the vast majority of people who use e-cigarettes in Australia are current smokers and even more former smokers who are doing so to reduce the harm of smoking."
"E-cigarettes are much more regulated, much more restricted than cigarettes, and if we're going to do anything, we should be restricting cigarettes, not e-cigarettes."