A supermarket has been slapped with almost $90,000 in fines for selling nicotine vapes to children as young as 13.
Zam Zam Supermarket pleaded guilty last month to selling vapes and e-liquids containing nicotine following an investigation by Queensland Health.
The investigation came as a result of multiple complaints that the store in Kuraby in Brisbane‘s south was selling vapes to teenagers.
The Metro South Public Health Unit, with the help of police and the Australian Taxation Office, executed two warrants on properties in Kuraby on May 13, 2021, seizing more than 45,000 vapes and 33 e-liquids.
Zam Zam supermarket at Kuraby in Brisbane’s south has been issued almost $90,000 for selling nicotine vapes to children as young as 13
They pleaded guilty in Holland Park Magistrates Court on April 18 to two counts of possession and the sale of vapes and e-liquids containing nicotine (stock image of vapes)
Zam Zam Supermarket pleaded guilty in Holland Park Magistrates Court on April 18 to two counts of possession and the sale of vapes and e-liquids containing nicotine.
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The magistrate ordered the company to pay $88,845, inclusive of analyst and legal costs, and a conviction was recorded.
Nicotine is a regulated poison under Queensland law and the ban is enforced by health department officers.
But outside the court Zam Zam’ss owner Majed Al-kabinchi claimed he hadn’t sold vapes to teenagers, reporting The Courier Mail.
‘No way, no way, I have kids too… I listened to the law,’ he said.
Metro South Health director of environmental health Melinda Lennon said she hopes the prosecution of the store deters others from selling nicotine vapes.
‘We’ve received complaints from various sources, in particular a deputy principal that claimed children as young as 13 had bought vapes from the store,’ she said.
‘This is our first successful prosecution for a retailer selling vapes in our metro south region.’
Ms Lennon said nicotine and the general toxic chemicals that go into the lungs while using nicotine vapes are what is most harmful, especially to kids with developing bodies.
