Photo: 123RF
Specialist vape retailers are failing to ask for ID and are selling high-nicotine vapes that do not comply with regulations, a study shows.
A 20-year-old 'mystery shopper' was sent to 74 vape shops in Wellington, Porirua and the Hutt Valley as part of the University of Otago study.
Only one retailer asked the shopper for ID on entry to the store.
While ID was requested by half of the stores at the point of sale, a third proceeded with the sale when the shopper was unable to produce any.
In New Zealand, vapes are a notifiable product and, like tobacco products, must not be sold to people under 18.
The study also showed stores continued to peddle single-use vapes at low prices and offered discounts for vapes with nicotine levels that were no longer compliant with New Zealand regulations.
Vaping regulation changes - brought by the previous government in 2023 - limited the nicotine strength allowed in disposable vapes to 20mg/ml.
In a statement, study author Jude Ball - a senior research fellow at the University of Otago's department of public health - said higher-strength vapes were just as accessible and, in some cases, cheaper than ever.
"Our study showed disposable vapes remained available for $10 or less in most stores, and reusable starter kits were also widely available for NZ$10-20," Ball said.
"Discounted high-nicotine disposables were sold for as little as $2.50 each, with the cheapest vapes sold in the most socioeconomically deprived suburbs, where vape stores were clustered. Most low-price disposables did not comply with the new nicotine limits."
Ball said vapes should not be exempt from laws that prevented the discounting of tobacco products.
"The findings highlight the need to disallow discounting of vaping products to avoid 'dumping' of non-compliant products, and price promotions that make vapes easily affordable to children.
"The study also highlights the need to clarify ambiguities in current and future regulations, as the industry have proved to be adept at exploiting any weaknesses to circumvent or push the boundaries set by government," Ball said.
Researchers said there was an urgent need to increase the enforcement of stores flouting vaping regulations.
In March, the coalition government announced it would ban single-use vapes as part of a crackdown on youth vaping, aiming to have all the changes in place by the end of the year.
Other measures included much bigger fines for selling vapes to under-18s, further retailer restrictions, and a better enforcement system to ensure they were following the rules.