New regulations for vapes may unintentionally create a black market for the products, a retailer says.
The government was bringing in new rules to curb the use of vapes among young people, including removing disposable vapes from the shelves, and getting rid of alluring names like 'strawberry jelly donut' in favour of plain flavour names like 'berry'.
Some retailers said these plans may have an impact on uptake among young people, but do not give the industry enough time to adjust.
Auckland was often referred to as the Big Smoke, but in the last few years that smoke was infused with scents of candy floss and bubble gum.
Some of the products at Ponsonby's Vape Room have interesting names: Heisenberg Slush, Gummi Bear, and Mean Az feature among the flavours. Photo: Tom Taylor / RNZ
Cigarettes were out: Ministry of Health data showed daily tobacco smoking rates had halved in the last 10 years. But they were being replaced by vaping products, which produced the sweet-smelling plumes.
Suppliers had more than stepped in to meet the soaring demand: nightlife hotspot Ponsonby Road, for example, had five vape stores in just 1.7km.
At the Three Lamps end, Vape Room owner Nephi Hatcher said some vapes clearly appealed to a certain audience - with Heisenberg Slush for Breaking Bad fans, Sour Batch vape liquid an unmistakable reference to Sour Patch Kids lollies, and Gummy Bear and Skittle flavourings also on offer.
Bright colours make vapes appealing. Photo: Tom Taylor / RNZ
Under the new regulations, names like these may need to change, so Heisenberg's blue stuff may become a more mundane "blueberry".
Hatcher said this could remove some of the appeal of vaping for young people, but the packaging and feel of the vapes themselves could hold an allure.
While Australia was moving towards plain pharmaceutical packaging, some packets here were still emblazoned with graffiti art, and some of the vapes even had games incorporated into them.
Hatcher showed Checkpoint some vapes that had studs for people to attach Lego pieces.
Vape Room owner Nephi Hatcher says the government's new regulations may unintentionally create a black market. Photo: Tom Taylor / RNZ
From November, customers would not be able to buy disposable vapes; only devices with removeable or replaceable batteries would be allowed.
With the relatively short lead-in time, Hatcher said suppliers were already slashing their prices. And he said customers would likely stock up, meaning disposables could hang around a lot longer than November.
"There will be a huge black market for it. Once they're not allowed to be sold in shops, kids will get easier and better access.
Hatcher said at another of his stores, someone had been caught stealing vapes and selling them to children - and more of this would occur once the disposable vapes were banned.
"All you're going to see is this black market erupt - everyone's going to get rid of their vapes cheap, and they're going to be sold to kids at a premium."
Less than 1km down the road, Chirag Kharbanda opened his store Vape Vape just a month ago. But the new regulations already had him considering his future.
"If the business is going to go down, I'm going to do something else," he said.
"I've got six or seven years on the lease, and I can't just be paying the rent from my pocket. So, I'll do something else - maybe some food business or something like that."
Chirag Kharbanda only opened his store Vape Vape a month ago. Photo: Tom Taylor / RNZ
Kharbanda had $50,000 worth of disposable vapes to shift, and hoped suppliers would buy back what he could not sell by November.
But he said he agreed with the government's method of dissuading young people from vaping.
Checkpoint asked him what young people usually bought at his store.
"Disposables, that's for sure," he said. "Disposables are very easy to use. With refillables, there's a bit of hassle - you have to change the coils and refill the juices and sometimes it leaks.
"With these ones, it's pretty handy. People come in for a night out, just grab a $10 or $12 vape, and just throw it [at the end of the night]."
Dairies, which were already limited to only selling tobacco, menthol or mint-flavoured vapes, would also not be able to sell disposables when the new regulations came into effect.
Bright colours make vapes appealing. Photo: Tom Taylor / RNZ
At Karangahape Road's Walia Superette, Manggi Singh was surprised to hear about the changes. However, he said vapes were not a big part of his business anyway, contributing about $1000 a week in sales.
He said vapes led to more problems, with robberies often targeting the products.
"I'm making money but it's too much hassle. It's not easy, I've had too many ram raids coming, stealing all the goods."
The new regulations made up phase one of the government's plan to change vape habits, with phase two - a raft of interactive tools for young people to seek alternatives to vaping - kicking off soon.
Ministry doubts black market will develop
Addressing concerns about a black market for disposable vapes, a Ministry of Health spokesperson said the risk of that was low.
They said there would still be alternative nicotine delivery products, such as reusable vapes, on the market.
"The government continues to monitor and adjust its regulatory settings to get the intended balance right," the spokesperson said.
"The government has acknowledged it shares concerns about increased vaping among young people and that more restrictions are needed to build on existing protections in the legislation and address this issue."
The spokesperson said the government's policy announcement gave the industry time to start thinking about how they would adjust their businesses to meet the new requirements.
The Ministry of Health did not have any plans to run a buy-back or recycling scheme for single-use vapes still in stock after the new regulations came into effect.