Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced a parliamentary inquiry into vaping in Queensland amid alarming reports of primary school-aged children becoming addicted to e-cigarettes.
The inquiry, set to be referred to the state's health committee next week, is set to focus on the chemicals and ingredients in vapes.
Ms Palaszczuk said Queensland's efforts in reducing smoking rates were being undone by a rapid rise in vaping — including in schools.
"I'm hearing accounts of children in primary schools vaping during their lunch hours," Ms Palaszczuk said.
"We need an education campaign to really inform the public about what is actually in these vapes."
Heath Minister Yvette D'Ath said the committee would examine the prevalence of vapes and how young people are accessing them, as well as the health risks linked to e-cigarettes.
"The reality is, even if they're advertised as not containing nicotine, they've been found to contain nicotine. They've been found to contain formaldehyde, they've been found to contain acetone ... these are dangerous chemicals," she said.
"Recently I heard from a deputy principal who said kids are becoming so addicted they can't concentrate in class anymore because they want to go out and vape. That is very, very concerning."
Vapes containing nicotine are not legal in Queensland without a prescription, and are often prescribed to smokers who are trying to quit, but are still being sold online and in some stores.
They are often packaged colourfully and are marketed heavily towards young people.
A Four Corners investigation in 2022 revealed a thriving online black market for nicotine vapes and found they were also being sold at regular tobacconist chains with misleading packaging that doesn't specify nicotine as an ingredient.
Ms D'Ath said recent research from the Cancer Council revealed that non-smokers were significantly more likely to take up smoking if they vape regularly.
"We have managed to significantly reduce smoking in this country, and we've made huge strides in this area," she said.
"There's always more to do, but the reality is, we don't want to be here in 10, 20, 30 years' time looking back and thinking 'if only'."
The state government said the inquiry will "complement" the national e-cigarette Working Group established earlier this year by health ministers across other states and territories.
The parliamentary committee is due to report back to the Queensland government in August.
Concerns over vaping in schools
The Queensland Teachers Union (QTU) has welcomed the inquiry into young people vaping, saying some schools are already taking measures to get children away from the harmful pastime and back into the classroom.
QTU President Cresta Richardson said teachers have been using the curriculum to talk about harmful effects of vaping and some schools have taken more practical steps including locking bathrooms.
"I know that many schools have come together with their school councils or student-lead councils and talked about what they might be able to do," she told ABC.
"Sometimes there are other more significant solutions, where they might be locking the bathrooms.
"These are not ideal, but they sometimes they are a way to stop the behaviour within school time and students should be in the classroom."
Ms Richardson said the current measures in place come out of existing school budgets and if the inquiry's report recommended continuing to lock the toilets or other measures, the QTU would need financial support.
"If there are any recommendations about that, then they'll need to actually be fully funded, so they're not come out of school budgets," she said.
"School budgets are very tight [and] for student learning. So, these types of things, if they're a recommendation, we'd really call for those to be fully funded by the government and the department."
Store owner calls for tougher regulation
Fortitude Valley vape store owner Ben Croteau said the black market was destroying the legal industry and harming kids.
He said while it was illegal to sell vapes with nicotine, many vapes on the black market contain it.
"We need to look at regulating, we need to look at doing it safely with tested products that are suitable for consumers," Mr Croteau said.
He said some children are buying the products online, or in some cases, adults buy them and pass them on — something his store is vigilant about.
"It's like an adult going to a bar and taking the kids to a smoking area and giving them a beer," he said.
"It's hard to say what the adults are doing with the products, but there have been times when things do not look OK. Say if there's a group of kids waiting outside the store in school uniforms and a kid that is older and I can cite his ID comes in, I will deny them because I know what's going to go on and that's how I started smoking.
"So, it's a hard thing to say: 'Oh, are you going to go out and give this to all your friends?' But at least without the nicotine in it, those kids won't be as addicted to those products."
Mr Croteau said the government needed to better regulate the products and stamp out illegal sellers.
"Within even just a block of us, there are three businesses selling these devices that are completely illicit under federal law and nothing has been done," he said.
"It's been happening for 18 to 20 months, and government has not even stepped in to help us.
"There have been ample opportunities for us to break the laws, but throughout that time, we're still saying: 'We want the laws to change, we want this business to be regulated' but it does hurt our business and hurts other legitimate businesses so it's a really hard place to be."
