Australia seems to be waging a full-frontal war against all forms of nicotine use - at least those that are not cigarette smoking. But alternative products are emerging anyway. The latest trend, in the wake of the vejp ban, is white snus. Or 'nicotine pouches' as they are known down under.
Vejpkollen has on several occasions drawn attention to Australia's strict rules against nicotine in general and vejpning in particular. At the beginning of the summer, the country passed a new law that was in many ways a death blow to the entire domestic vejp industry and also for users. E-cigarettes can now only be sold in the country's pharmacies and distributors, shopkeepers and other sellers were given only days to empty their stocks - or be penalised with a hefty fines and possible imprisonmente.
"It's as fucked up as it could ever be," commented Vaping Bogan profiler Samuel Parsons in a cheesy youtube clips then.
Banned for over 30 years
Snus, or rather the Swedish-style nicotine pouch, along with all other smokeless tobacco products, has been banned in Australia since 1991. It is strictly forbidden to sell the products in the country, and snus can only be legally imported for personal use if the user has a special medical certificate.
But of course it can still be found, if you know where to look. A puff under the lip doesn't look or smell like vejp - so nicotine pouches have only started trending in the last few months, especially in hip metropolitan areas.
Illegal hype
During the summer, Göteborgs-Posten published a long report on the snuff trend in Australia. The newspaper met, among others, the lawyer Yuki, who, despite his profession, has picked up on the illegal hype. In the report, he says that most of his friends and work colleagues sniff white snuff. They live in the Newtown neighbourhood in Western Sydney, which the reporter likens to Majorna - the city's slightly bohemian and more alternative neighbourhood.
Most expensive cigarette in the world
Cigarettes are still legal in Australia, but their cost is the highest on the planet. With the country's tobacco taxes, a packet costs the equivalent of $3.50 - and that doesn't seem to be reducing Australians' appetite for alternatives. However, the war continues and in the first five months of the year, the country's customs service seized one million nicotine pouches. How many millions they missed is not clear from the statistics.
In GP's report, the interviewees the newspaper spoke to say that the country will never be able to win that battle. According to them, weed is still sold "everywhere" and snus can be bought in many ordinary tobacco shops. The various bans and high taxes on cigarettes, they say, are allowing the black market to flourish, with smuggled cigarettes flowing down from China and elsewhere.
Smuggled in from China
Snus also seems to be travelling via China. According to a tobacco dealer GP spoke to, stocks are being filled by Chinese traders who are smuggling in as much as they can. But the fact that the authorities in turn confiscate as much as they can is reflected in the price tags. In the Newtown area, you can certainly find 'Velo' and 'Zyn' brands (considered the highest quality) pretty much everywhere, but they go for around 300 bucks. However, there are cheaper, Chinese brands that cost about half that amount.
So far, the Australian government doesn't seem to have woken up to the snus trend. Users describe it in GP as a kind of grey area right now, as it IS illegal but still sold more or less openly everywhere. How they will act remains to be seen, but if the new laws against vejp can point in any direction, it will be tough.
