The effectiveness of Australia's vaping laws is being thrown into question with data showing illegal nicotine is making its way into retail stores.

Key points: The sale of liquid nicotine in e-cigarettes is illegal across Australia

The sale of liquid nicotine in e-cigarettes is illegal across Australia Over 40pc of 227 retailers visited by inspectors found to be selling products containing nicotine

Over 40pc of 227 retailers visited by inspectors found to be selling products containing nicotine Health experts say the lack of clarity around what people are buying needs to be resolved

Data from the New South Wales Department of Health suggests people could be unwittingly buying e-juice containing nicotine even though it is illegal to purchase it in Australia.

In testing conducted since 2015, the Department found that 63 per cent of e-juice labelled as nicotine-free actually contained nicotine.

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The Department was unable to provide a breakdown of the concentrations of the unlabelled nicotine, but of the testing it conducted of all e-juice, around half contained between 3mg/ml and 20mg/ml — that is the level at which nicotine is typically inhaled.

While it is legal to buy liquid nicotine from overseas for personal use in all states except Queensland, the sale of liquid nicotine in e-cigarettes is illegal across Australia.

However, health data suggests NSW e-juice retailers have continued to stock nicotine liquid.

From November 2015 to April 2018 NSW health inspectors visited 227 retailers selling e-liquids.

Over 40 per cent of these retailers were found to be selling products that contained nicotine.

Of the other state health departments contacted, Western Australia's agreed that e-juice labelling was an issue but could not provide any details.

"The Department of Health does test products where there is reason to believe that they may contain nicotine," a WA spokesperson said.

"Through this process, it is clear that the labelling of e-liquids can be inaccurate and misleading."

Health experts say the lack of clarity around what people are buying needs to be resolved.

Simon Chapman, emeritus professor of public health at Sydney University, said Australia was in a "complete no-mans land" when it came to e-cigarette regulation.

Professor Chapman, who has been at the forefront of tobacco control in Australia, said it was unlikely vendors were selling e-juice without knowing it contained nicotine.

"I don't think you'd have to be particularly cynical to think that they would know exactly what they're selling," Professor Chapman said.

"It's clearly not transparent information for consumers and it's clearly selling a product which, at the moment, the way the law stands, it's breaking the law."

Under the table

Vape users agree it is possible to buy nicotine from retailers if you know who to ask.

Nicole Rahme has been vaping for over a year as a way of transitioning off cigarettes and said she had experienced shops who sold nicotine "under the table".

"If you're a regular customer then they'll tell you 'I can order some or I can get it for you tomorrow'," she said.

"But it's normally under the table, they won't tell all customers."

People could be unwittingly buying e-juice containing nicotine even though it's illegal to purchase it in Australia. ( Reuters: Neil Hall )

Those working in the vaping sector say most retailers are trying to do the right thing.

Nick Rose, who manufactures his own e-juice to sell, said he knew of a lot of shops around Sydney who would not sell nicotine.

"You can tell someone 'go buy it off the internet'," Mr Rose said.

"There's no point in running the risk of trying to sell nicotine when it's illegal for you to do that."

How do e-cigarettes work? E-cigarettes are battery-operated devices that heat a cartridge of liquid nicotine into a mist to be vaporised

E-cigarettes are battery-operated devices that heat a cartridge of liquid nicotine into a mist to be vaporised They deliver nicotine (the addictive agent in cigarettes) without burning tobacco and producing harmful smoke

They deliver nicotine (the addictive agent in cigarettes) without burning tobacco and producing harmful smoke Smoking e-cigarettes is often referred to as vaping

Other states do not have the same process as NSW for randomly testing e-juice to ensure sellers are not selling nicotine.

Instead they rely on complaints against vendors to identify law breakers.

Professor Chapman said responding only to complaints was unlikely to give a full picture of how widely nicotine was being sold.

"It's very inefficient," he said.

"The people who are going to be purchasing those products are probably going to be mainly hoping that they're getting a product with nicotine in it.

"So if they get one and their brain says 'yeah, there's some nicotine here', they're hardly going to ring up and complain to the health department about it."

Working in the 'grey zone'

The laws around vaping can be confusing, even for those working in the area.

One retailer, Michelle (not her real name), thought she would try importing a new nicotine product, nicotine salts, after seeing them at a vape expo in China.

"We thought, maybe we've found a niche in the market … that people could use to stop smoking," she said.

"We were told that they were sending them into Australia with no problems, that they had been doing it for a while and people had been selling them."

Michelle spoke to three government agencies including the Department of Health and customs in an effort to work out if she could bring the salts into the country.

"I called everyone I could call and I tried to get as much information as I could, but no one could tell me anything about salt nicotine," she said.

Thinking it was legal, Michelle ordered the salts, which were checked by customs and allowed in.

It was only after advertising them online that she found out from other vape users that selling nicotine salts is illegal.

"As soon as we found out from the community … we took them off the shelves and put them away," she said.

"We're just law abiding citizens."

Part of the confusion lies in the fact that customs do not appear to be restricting the entry of nicotine products.

A spokesperson for Australian Border Force told the ABC: "There is no restriction on importing nicotine or nicotine salts under customs legislation".

"The supply and accessibility of nicotine is regulated by the States and Territories," the spokesperson said.

Calls for clearer regulation

Professor Chapman said the laws around nicotine needed to be clarified and its sale made legal, though in a regulated way.

"This could be a wonderful genie in a bottle, or it could be an evil genie," he said.

"If we let it out of the bottle, then we don't know what's going to happen.

"We need to keep the genie fairly constrained at first so that those people who are desperate to quit smoking or to use a product which is likely to be less dangerous than cigarettes… can get access to it in a limited sort of way."

Vape enthusiasts agreed that clearer laws could help people stay on the right side of the law.

Mr Rose called it "a grey area"

"There's all sorts of loopholes and you can order it in from overseas," he said.

"I know a lot of vapers that want it regulated."

So far the Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has maintained his opposition to changing the laws around nicotine vaping.

His office was contacted, but he was unavailable for comment.