More than £17,000 worth of illicit vapes and tobacco products were seized from eight Brighton and Hove shops last month.
Trading Standards officers from Brighton and Hove City Council found the rogue products during three days of inspectios in early October.
The council has now found 27 local businesses selling illicit vaping products.
Officers are now considering a range of enforcement options including closure orders, prosecutions and referrals to other agencies to deal with the illegal sale of tobacco and vapes.
While vapes and e-cigarettes are currently considered a healthier alternative to smoking cigarettes, there is a growing concern about their use among children and young people, who might have not taken up smoking otherwise.
All legally sold vaping devices need to be approved by the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency and must not exceed 20mg/2% of nicotine concentration and 2ml in capacity – around 600 ‘puffs’.
Illicit vapes might contain higher doses of nicotine and can also contain various dangerous chemicals such as lead, tin, nickel or THC.
High levels of inhaled lead damage central nervous system and inhibit brain development, especially if inhaled by a child or a young person.
As well as negative health implications, the single use nature of disposable vapes poses a hazard to the environment.
Discarded vaping devices might be mistaken for food by wildlife such as birds, fish, and marine mammals and cause internal injuries, poisoning or death.
Both disposable and rechargeable vapes contain a hidden lithium battery that can be extremely dangerous when thrown away.
Lithium batteries can explode and cause fires in trucks and waste facilities when thrown away in your household recycling or the rubbish bins around the city.
Vapes can be recycled in small electrical item recycling points and you may also be able to recycle vapes at some shops and supermarkets across the city.
Councillor Leslie Pumm, chair of the equalities, community safety and human rights committee, said: “We are determined to continue our crackdown on the selling of illicit vapes and tobacco products and the selling of these to vulnerable young people.
“Most users might not realise that by purchasing unregulated vaping devices they could be causing long-term damage to their health and fostering a serious nicotine addiction.
“Local business owners have been briefed on the legal requirements regarding the selling of vapes and therefore should know better than to risk their livelihoods and the wellbeing of our residents.
“I would like to issue a stern warning to all retailers to ensure all disposable e-cigarettes, e-liquids and vaping devices they sell meet UK legal requirements and remind them about the age restriction on the sale of vapes.
“Anyone selling vapes to someone under 18 is committing an offence. The owner of the business can be held responsible as well as the member of staff who made the sale.”
The operation was supported by the members of the tactical enforcement unit from Sussex Police, a dog handler and officers from Thames Valley South East Regional Organised Crime Unit.
Shops like these should be shut down and their owners fined, but of course we all know they will face little to no real consequences, and probably carry on breaking the law undeterred.
I guess it depends on if the vapes came off the back of a lorry or from the wholesalers ?
If the stock came from reputable wholesalers then they wouldn’t have been confiscated as they wouldn’t have been illegal.
Losing their stock seems a pretty steep consequence to me.
Do you think the people they bought this illegal stuff from will refund them?
Given that illicit tobacco is easily identifiable by a simple barcode scan, the wonder is why the council, Trading Standards, and Sussex Police haven’t done this earlier and don’t do this more often.
I once treated a patient who had a vape explode whilst they were using it. Burnt hair and flesh are rather unpleasant smells.
The UK Vaping Industry Association is calling for minimum £10.000 fines for those caught selling vapes to minors and illegal products and licencing of vape retailers and wholesalers. Hopefully the government listens to them.