Get serious about illicit tobacco sales

It was dismaying to read in the Coast News of the tobacco shop fire-bombings on the Peninsula.

The tobacco wars were always going to come to the Coast with the poor controls on tobacco retailer licensing which have allowed the proliferation of numerous tobacco/vape shops selling illicit chop-chop (raw tobacco) and e-cigarettes (vapes).

Despite the need for a greater emphasis on tobacco supply reduction to combat tobacco use, what we have seen in the past few years is a lack of co-ordinated action by relevant authorities to develop proactive policies and enforce the laws to keep illicit supply of tobacco out of retail establishments.

From the number of tobacco and vape shops we are seeing on the Central Coast it’s hard to believe that the Australian Government banned the importation of disposable vapes into Australia on January 1, including vapes with and without nicotine

 Amendments to the law by the Therapeutic Goods Administration meant that from July 1, only “therapeutic e-cigarettes” containing nicotine can be legally sold by pharmacies to people who have a prescription from their doctor, until October 1 when e-cigarettes will be available from pharmacies without a prescription.

Despite the retail vape ban it’s obvious to community members that no action has been taken against retail establishments that continue to sell illicit vapes and other illicit tobacco products to the public.

The profits to be made by the gangs are considerable and they are now emboldened given the lack of action from authorities in enforcing the laws designed to protect young people from the grip of nicotine addiction and tobacco harms.

It’s about time the NSW Police, the Health Department and the Central Coast Council got serious about this issue before someone is seriously hurt or killed as a result of the inaction which has fuelled the tobacco wars.

Email, Aug 26
Tahir Turk, Wamberal