YouTuber gives update on plans to quit Australia over vaping ban

An Aussie YouTuber who vowed to flee the country over the federal government’s vaping ban has acted on his threat and fired a parting shot at authorities.

Known online as the Vaping Bogan, Samuel Parsons declared to his 186,000 subscribers in January that he would be forced to relocate overseas to save his career reviewing vape products for living.

Mr Parsons recently briefly returned to Adelaide after spending the past five months in the UK, where his wife is a dual-citizen.

The vape influencer now intends to live in the UK permanently with his young family.

The father-of-two said that the government’s ‘terrible’ decision to ban the importation and sale of vapes forced his hand into leaving Australia, which he branded as a ‘nanny state’.

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‘Vaping is more accessible in … Russia and China than it is in Australia right now and that says a lot. We are no longer a free country,’ he told the Advertiser.

‘Everything I do is gone if I stay in Australia.’

He questioned why Aussies people need a prescription for vapes when cigarette smokes remain widely publicly accessible.

Mr Parsons added that he will only return to Australia if the new laws are scrapped and that the government allows adults to make their own choices.

The YouTuber believes the ban will only strengthen the black market for vapes and wouldn’t make a dent in the amount of Aussie children vaping. 

‘When the black market is bigger than it was before the ban and the youth vaping rates haven’t declined these politicians will be left with egg on their face,’ he said.

‘They will destroy the hundreds of legitimate vape businesses trying to help people get off combustible tobacco and only make the problems of youth vaping and unregulated vape products even worse.’

Ms Parsons added that proposed plans in the UK to ban single-use vapes won’t affect him as he doesn’t review them.

Laws forbidding the sale of vapes have been in place since 2021 before more aggressive policy was introduced by the Albanese government.

New legislation introduced January 1 banned the sale of nicotine vapes in specialised retailers and convenience stores.

The crackdown saw a number of stores nationwide raided by police while Aussies can now only legally get a vape  in pharmacies with a prescription from their GP.

Daily Mail Australia revealed earlier this year that vapes were as easy to buy as a can of drink or a newspaper in stores across Sydney, even after the government’s new measures.

In response, Health Minister Mark Butler said the government ‘is not going to stand by and let this happen’, warning stores selling vapes to find a new revenue stream.

‘I’ve said to businesses that are making money out of this trade, you’re going to have to find another way to make money,’ Mr Butler told Daily Mail Australia.

‘Vape shops are deliberately setting up down the road from schools – it’s an industry targeting their product to kids.’

Vaping can lead to nicotine addiction and cause seizures and death even on products promoted as nicotine-free.