Happy Saturday!

I’m popping into your inbox this weekend to give you the lowdown on our new series, Understanding Vaping.

Over three short episodes, we wanted to investigate vaping in Australia — a daunting task.

Vapes were invented to help people stop smoking, but these days, they’ve got a whole new generation of non-cigarette smokers hooked. When we asked our audience yesterday, over 50% of respondents said they had vaped, with 31% suggesting they vape daily.

So how did we get here? It’s still pretty early days when it comes to understanding vaping, so we decided to start at the beginning - what’s even in a vape?

If you think chemistry labs are boring, you’ve never been to the vape lab at the University of Wollongong. It’s full of huge bags of disposable vapes in an assortment of flavours and colours, some waiting to be tested, some already broken apart.

Dr Jody Moller, senior lecturer at UOW’s chemistry department, told us they’ve tested about a thousand e-cigarette samples over the last few years. In other words, this is the place to go if you want to know what’s in your vape.

Many of the vapes the Wollongong team tests once belonged to NSW school students. The results were fascinating. It only took a glance to see that the high school market is dominated by one kind of vape — IGET’s fruit-flavoured disposable devices with very high nicotine content.

We were surprised to see many of these confiscated vapes had been tampered with.

There were tell-tale signs of scissor marks on the bottom of some vapes indicating a student may have pulled theirs apart, to charge its battery or replace the liquid once it ran out.

In the lab, the pros use gloves and goggles to take vapes apart, since they contain substances that can harm you if you touch them, and lithium-ion batteries that can explode if they shoot out.

All of this in a product you inhale. To hear more about what’s in vapes and what they can do to your lungs, listen to episode one here.

It’s clear that despite the popular perception that vapes are cigarettes’ cooler, safer younger sibling, they come with plenty of risks. So how are officials responding?

No more Mr Nice Government

The main goal of the Federal Government’s vape policy is to turn something cool, fruity, and fun into something medicinal and boring.

It took a while to get our heads across exactly what that looks like in practice, though.

Here’s a timeline of how vape rules have changed:

• Pre-2021: Nicotine vapes are regulated by states and territories. Technically they aren’t allowed to be sold without a prescription under pre-existing legislation, but that doesn’t stop anyone

• 2021: The Federal Government closes one loophole by introducing laws stopping people from legally buying nicotine vapes from overseas online shops

• May 2023: The Federal Government acknowledges its laws aren’t working and launches a crackdown on non-prescription disposable flavoured nicotine vapes (what a mouthful!)

• 1 January 2024: It’s now illegal to import disposable single-use vapes, whether or not they have nicotine

• 1 March 2024: It will be illegal to important vapes personally, and for companies to import ‘non-therapeutic’ vapes (i.e. not designed to help people stop smoking)

To hear more about these changes, listen to Episode 2.

Times are changing. The question is, will these new rules and regulations work any better than those of the past?

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Loopholes and legalisation

As we enter a new period of reform, it’s worth looking back at the loopholes that have let nicotine vapes filter through to our tobacconists and convenience stores, and who’s interested in making them legal. 

Back at the vape lab, Dr Moller showed us how manufacturers changed their packaging in 2021 to hide the fact that their vapes had nicotine. This meant disposable vapes were sold under the guise of being nicotine-free, and law enforcement struggled to prove otherwise. 

We’ve already seen signs that manufacturers are responding to the new reforms, trying to slip through the cracks. 

The government also faces the full force of Big Tobacco — the multinational companies that made their money selling cigarettes. 

You’d think that since vapes were meant to help people quit smoking, they’d be cigarettes’ nemesis. But what we found was that Big Tobacco actually wants vapes legalised. If you dig around on the Facebook page for vape legalisation campaign Responsible Vaping Australia, you’ll find it was created by BAT Australia, aka British American Tobacco.  

BAT wouldn’t sit down for an interview with us, but in a statement, they said they advocate for regulating nicotine vapes, “reduc[ing] the demand for dangerous illegal products”. 

Between cashed-up Big Tobacco and slippery manufacturers, the government has its work cut out for it. 

To hear more about who’s trying to legalise vapes, listen to episode 3. 

Vapes have become part of our everyday lives so quickly that it’s hard to remember a time when they weren’t around. But beyond the loopholes, the laws and even the impact they may have on our lungs, it all boils down to one thing.

Follow the money

Vapes are addictive. They’re full of nicotine, an addictive substance. The government understands this, which is why they’re changing their regulations. Big Tobacco understands this too, which is why they’re funding pro-vape campaigns. 

It’s why the UOW scientists have a lab filled with vapes confiscated from teens. Why we can still walk into the convenience store across the street from the TDA office and get one. And why the inventor of vapes is still hooked on nicotine. 

It’s like USYD public health expert Becky Freeman told us: “There’s a lot of money to be made in a highly addictive product that people could go on to use for decades. 

You can listen to Understanding Vaping wherever you get your podcasts, or watch the video version on TDA’s YouTube channel.