Blue Hole New Consumer Reported, February 7 news, according to foreign telecommunications reports, Australia's ban on nicotine e-cigarettes was exposed as a laughing stock, because Uber drivers profited by selling e-cigarettes on cars.
Australian media have exposed how ride-sharing drivers can use services like Uber to quickly make money from passengers — in some cases, $50 per car.
Images taken from inside cars in Sydney and Brisbane showed e-cigarette ads publicly displayed next to QR codes at the rear of vehicles, with drivers opening suitcases showing dozens of e-cigarettes of varying intensities, flavors and numbers of cigarettes smoked.
Instagram and TikTok accounts have also been set up to call themselves UberVapes, offering free shipping to customers who buy illegal devices.
After the Australian federal government announced a ban on the import and sale of nicotine-based e-cigarettes in October, the black market for e-cigarettes and e-cigarettes began to rise due to concerns about the chemicals used in products.
Since October 1, the legal import and purchase of e-cigarettes requires a prescription from a general practitioner.
The decision came under widespread scrutiny at the time, and experts believed it would do nothing to discourage widespread use of e-cigarettes in Australia.
Theo Foukkare, chief executive of the Australian Convenience Store Association (AACC), said government policy had become a laughing stock and the prohibited items were now easily sold on Uber and online.
An Uber user revealed that he recently participated in a ride-sharing and the driver immediately offered him a series of nicotine-based e-cigarettes.
The man, who asked not to be named, told the Australian Daily Mail that he said there were e-cigarettes here and they just put them in their suitcases.
"He turned it on — I've had it a few times at Uber — and they have over 30 e-cigarettes."
An Uber passenger took a photo of two drivers selling e-cigarettes separately, saying one of the drivers showed fraudulent documents while promising that the e-cigarette was nicotine-based.
The passenger said: "Some people will carry with them an important customs letter from anyone, which says that it does not contain nicotine. But drivers tell you they absolutely do. They're just hiding themselves.
Black market vendors are also harnessing the power of social media to connect with customers, with Instagram, Facebook Marketplace and TikTok being the platforms of choice.
Australia's Daily Mail has seen dozens of pages offering illegal e-cigarettes that offer free shipping in Australian capital cities.
A page called UberVapes tore off the ride-sharing company's logo, showing smoke coming out of a truck with similar fonts and colors.
The TikTok video shows hundreds of e-cigarettes with free shipping, with warning labels clearly displayed on the products.
Foukkare said the illegal sale of nicotine-based e-cigarettes was a catastrophic failure for the government.
Mr. Foukkare said: "The federal government may think that smoking e-cigarettes is very strict, but just looking around on the street and on the Internet, the government's policy is a laughing stock.
"This is a catastrophic regulatory failure. Dodgy retailers sell e-cigarettes everywhere, including where kids are easy to buy. You can go online to find a variety of e-cigarette products on offer, many of which contain nicotine and are explicitly marketed to young people."
"Now Uber drivers are selling them on the side. I've seen a lot of things in my retail career, but seeing taxi drivers advertising e-cigarettes with neon lights on dashboards makes things even more confusing."
The AACC chair said e-cigarettes are being sold from fruit shops to butcher shops, and suppliers want to fill the gaps left by the new law.
"These are the people who sell to the children. Uber is just another example of accessibility that we don't think should happen." Foukkare said.
"You can't buy cigarettes on Uber Eats, so you shouldn't buy nicotine e-cigarettes while driving."
There are around 700,000 e-cigarette users in Australia, making it one of the most profitable markets for manufacturers and distributors worldwide.
Mr Foukkare called on the federal government to allow the products to be sold legally under a strictly regulated model, which would ensure that black market vendors could not distribute products to teenagers.
"We strongly believe that this is the result of the federal government's draconian, prescription-only system for the purchase of nicotine e-cigarette products. Over-regulation has pushed things underground." He said.
"The black market is exploding due to prescription policies. The booming black market has made it easier for kids to get products — vendors are smart marketers who sell products in a number of different ways, including what's happening with Uber today."
He said convenience store owners kept telling him they had customers coming in to look for nicotine-based e-cigarettes and saying they were easily available through the black market.
"Responsible retailers across Australia are ready to play a role. Kids shouldn't smoke e-cigarettes. But adults want to, not smoke regularly." The AACC chairman told the Australian Daily Mail.
"The black market elves have come out of the bottle." It's already too big for the police. If you want to get rid of it, you need to sell nicotine e-cigarette products in ordinary stores, and people need to show ID. As a result, any sale of nicotine e-cigarette products is clearly illegal."
"Customers walk into our clubs and ask about nicotine e-cigarette products. When we have to reject them, where do you think they will go? They go straight online, or jump into Uber."
The Daily Mail Australia has contacted Uber for comment on the misuse of its service for illegally selling e-cigarettes.
Health Secretary Greg Hunt's office has also been linked to the emergence of a black market for e-cigarettes in Australia.