Mirror Sting Test: Nearly Half of Tested Stores Sold E-Cigarettes to a 13-Year-Old Girl

Today, on April 17, news from the UK Mirror reported that a 13-year-old girl was found with an e-cigarette purchased from a store in one day — containing nicotine equivalent to that found in 100 cigarettes.

It is illegal to sell nicotine-containing e-cigarettes to children under 18. The Mirror sent this undercover shopper to 16 retailers in Manchester, and nearly half sold her e-cigarettes containing this highly addictive substance.

A Mirror investigation found that up to a quarter of e-cigarette shops sold oversized e-cigarettes containing illegal nicotine to children.

The Mirror sent undercover shoppers to 16 retailers in Manchester, four of which sold her e-cigarettes with 3,500 puffs or more for as low as £10 — with nicotine levels up to five times the legal limit. Three other shops sold her regular legal disposable e-cigarettes, with some retailers offering her discounts; only one out of seven shops asked her if she was over 18 before selling her an e-cigarette.

Within hours, nearly half of the tested shops sold a pack of e-cigarettes to this minor, containing the same amount of highly addictive nicotine found in 100 cigarettes.

The UK has strict regulations on the nicotine content of disposable e-cigarettes — no more than 2ml of liquid and a nicotine content of no more than 2%.

Deborah Arnott, CEO of Action on Smoking and Health, told the Mirror that it feels like the Wild West out there.

There is concerning evidence that the proportion of minors using e-cigarettes has doubled, according to ASH data, which found that 7% of 11 to 17-year-olds surveyed in 2022 were current users, up from 3.3% the previous year.

There are also concerns about the rise of illegal oversized black market e-cigarettes, with the Chartered Trading Standards Institute warning that about a third of e-cigarette products on shelves violate UK law.

The illegal e-cigarettes purchased by the Mirror's undercover child contained nicotine levels five times that of legal e-cigarettes, yet were only twice the price.

Organized crime groups are believed to smuggle £500 million worth of illegal e-cigarettes into the UK each year. Most are manufactured in China, designed for larger and more powerful e-cigarette markets, such as the United States.

The Mirror's investigation confirmed some experts' concerns — many shops selling illegal e-cigarettes were the same ones that did not check IDs for children. Two shops selling e-cigarettes to young teenagers were franchised post offices, one of which openly advertised the Elux Legend 3500 e-cigarette stick on the sidewalk in the busy shopping street of Deansgate in Manchester — five times the legal limit.

The Mirror repeated the investigation in Coventry, where two of the 20 shops tested sold the same e-cigarettes to the girl, both of which were legal.

The post office on Deansgate in Manchester initially sold a £6 Elf Bar 600 to 13-year-old Rose, which is legal in the UK — although selling it to anyone under 18 is illegal.

She returned to the store asking to exchange it for a sour apple Elux Legend 3500, which is illegal in the UK, but was advertised outside the store.

When questioned, a staff member later told the Mirror: I was told not to say anything. We do not sell to children under 18. I was shocked.

Three shops near the busy Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester also sold Rose illegal e-cigarettes.

First, a shop called Vaping Mart sold her another Elux Legend 3500 for £11.25. The manager later told the Mirror: I was very shocked. Even without nicotine, we would refuse hundreds of times.

Two doors down, a female staff member at Smokers Paradise sold her a Crystal 4000 PUFF e-cigarette, which the Mirror showed to an expert, who confirmed it was not registered with the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and was 100% illegal.

The staff member asked for ID, but when Rose said she left it at home, the staff member still sold it to her for £13. When we asked the manager for a comment, he accused the Mirror of being a scam and then tried to stop the reporter from leaving. #p#分页标题#e#

The police were called and informed about the sale of illegal e-cigarettes. An officer stated he would pass the information to trading standards and added that he had been involved in their raids and said this is a problem we are aware of.

Further at the Marhaba newsstand, Rose inquired about another brand — lost Mary triple mango. But instead of the legal 600 puff version, usually priced at £5, she was offered the illegal 3500 puff version for £10, without being asked her age. The manager later declined to comment.

Most e-cigarette brands offer 0% nicotine versions, which can be legally sold to children of any age. Rose did not say she wanted a nicotine-containing e-cigarette, yet no shopkeeper offered her a nicotine-free e-cigarette.

The Department of Health and Social Care told the Mirror: It is illegal to sell e-cigarettes to children or to sell e-cigarettes that violate our explicit regulations. Just this week, we announced a new illegal e-cigarette enforcement team, which is supported by £3 million to take further action.

The team will have the authority to disrupt illegal supply, conduct test purchases and testing of products, and share knowledge and intelligence nationwide.

We will not tolerate the sale of illegal products and will take necessary action to remove them from shelves and prevent them from crossing our borders.

John Dunne, CEO of the UK Vaping Industry Association, said: The results in the area you are concerned about do not surprise me. This is one of the reasons UKVIA has been urging the government to take tough action. We fully support holding these people accountable. It is retailers like these that put the entire industry at risk.

Mr. Dunne stated that retailers could face a paltry fine of about £200, with maximum fines of £2,500. He called on the government to raise this to £10,000.

He also hopes to establish a licensing scheme for all e-cigarette retailers and distributors, including strong age verification training, as well as a national testing program like the Mirror has been doing.

Illegal e-cigarettes may have incorrect tank sizes, illegal nicotine concentration levels, may contain CBD from cannabis, or have incorrect labeling, including incorrect health warnings.

The Chartered Trading Standards Institute warned last month: While trading standards officers are tirelessly working to combat the wave of non-compliant e-cigarettes sold by retailers, there are broader fault issues within the supply chain.

Dr. Mike McKean, Vice Dean for Policy at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, hopes it can go further and implement stricter restrictions on e-cigarette advertising.

He called for action against brightly colored packaging, exotic flavors, and enticing names that attract children.

It is believed that 45 million illegal e-cigarettes are smuggled into the UK each year by crime gangs, which are believed to be located in West London and Manchester, and are sold openly in shops, online, and on social media.

These gangs could cost HMRC up to £150 million just in lost VAT and duty.

John Dunne of UKVIA added: This is a serious issue. There are 4.2 million e-cigarette users in the UK, and the industry is worth £2 billion. They make millions of pounds each week. This is a big business.

20mg of nicotine is roughly equivalent to 20 cigarettes. The Elux Legend 3500, containing 2% nicotine, is illegal in the UK due to its 10ml tank capacity — five times the limit.

The illegal Lost Mary BM3500 packaging clearly indicates it has the same 10ml tank capacity and 2% nicotine strength.

Crystal 4000 puffs do not display tank size on their packaging, but MHRA has not approved their sale in the UK.