A Brisbane supermarket has been ordered to pay nearly $90,000 after selling nicotine-containing vapes to children as young as 13.
Supermarket Zam Zam pleaded guilty last month to selling vaporizers and e-liquids containing nicotine following an investigation by Queensland Health.
The investigation followed complaints that Kuraby’s business was selling the items, including from the vice principal of a high school where children as young as 13 bought vape in the store.
Nicotine is a regulated poison under Queensland law and health department officials enforce the ban.
The Metro South Public Health Unit, with the help of police and the Australian Revenue Office, executed two arrest warrants on property in Kuraby on 13 May 2021 and seized over 45,000 vapes and 33 e-liquids.
Zam Zam supermarket pleaded guilty in Holland Park Magistrates Court on April 18 this year to two counts of possession and sale of vaporizers and e-liquids containing nicotine.
The magistrate ordered the company to pay $88,845, including the costs of the analyst and the lawyer, and a conviction was registered.