It has been 5 months for the reason that federal authorities introduced a multi-million greenback crackdown on vaping in Australia.

However the so-called urgent reforms to shut our borders to non-prescription vapes and impose tighter controls on gross sales and packaging have but to come back into impact and the vaping epidemic is as rampant as ever.

A latest research discovered one in 4 Australians aged 14 to 17 have vaped – up 10 per cent on a number of years earlier – and 5.7 per cent of teenagers surveyed now class themselves as common vapers.

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(As we speak)

However the course of to place these new legal guidelines into impact is sophisticated and the issue is rising worse.

“Initially we were advised we might have to pass laws through nine different parliaments, but we’ve now come up with an operation we think means we can put it just through the Commonwealth Parliament,” Federal Well being Minister, Mark Butler stated.

In the meantime, the Australian Border Drive is seeing a rush of e-cigarettes hitting our shores.

Previously 12 months, an estimate 2.2 million have been detected by Border Drive officers, coming in largely from Asia, Europe and New Zealand, however the quantity truly making it onto the streets is believed to be a lot increased.

Shops shamelessly flaunt the unlawful units in every single place you flip, however the Well being Minister says laws might be launched subsequent 12 months round sale and provide, together with bringing in plain packaging and limiting flavours.

The primary hurdle might be regulating the import ban, slated to occur by the top of this 12 months.

(As we speak)

However the transfer might nonetheless be blocked by the Senate and Nationals Deputy Chief Perin Davey informed As we speak the battle is already misplaced, backing calls of pro-vaping teams who need the units regulated like cigarettes.

“Prohibition doesn’t work, it will see an explosion in the black market,” she stated.

“You can tax it, you can have quality control, it’s the only thing that will help restrict access to these insidious products.”

However till one thing occurs, involved dad and mom can solely watch on as their kids proceed to freely smoke the units and have quick access to them.

“I think this issue is bigger than smoking was, I feel like it’s bigger than drugs and I don’t think the government’s doing enough.,” one guardian who selected to not be recognized for the anonymity of her daughter informed As we speak.

See Andrea Crothers’ full report within the video above