Dairy owner first in NZ to be charged with supplying vapes to kids
A Christchurch dairy owner is the first person in the country to be charged under new legislation which bans selling flavoured vapes to children.
The shopkeeper, who can now be named as Xiaoming He, could face fines of almost half a million dollars if convicted on all 12 charges, which also include accusations that he peddled unpackaged cigarettes.
The 62-year-old first appeared in Christchurch District Court on January 30, when he was initially granted interim name suppression. This has now lapsed.
He owned JDs Dairy in Addington, which The Press revealed was a hotspot for teenagers wanting to buy vaping products. He is now operating a new dairy on Opawa Rd called J Mart.
The Addington dairy was one of seven fined for selling vaping products to minors in Christchurch in 2022.
He was labelled as “dishonest” in a Christchurch High Court decision, and was ordered to sell his property to recover money owed.
In January, He told The Press he hoped to sell vaping products again when his new vape retailer premises application for Opawa Rd was approved.
The application has since been denied because of the store’s proximity to Opawa School.
Since 2023, new vape stores have not been allowed to open within 300m of the boundary of a school or marae. Disposable vapes and flavours considered to target a young audience have also been banned.
A new Ministry of Health investigation has resulted in 12 charges being laid for allegedly breaching the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act 1990.
This is the first time a specialist vape retailer – an approved business where vaping products make up the majority of sales – has been charged for an offence against the act, as well as the first time an individual has been charged for selling flavoured vape products from an unapproved premises.
The Press understands that four of the charges against He relate to offences allegedly committed from his new Opawa Rd dairy late last year.
Three charges against He relate to selling vapes to people aged under 18, and five are for selling vapes in flavours that he was not permitted to sell.
According to court documents, it is alleged that He sold “golden tobacco”, “blue raspberry” and “fresh mint” flavoured vapes to teenagers aged between 13 and 15 from an unapproved premises.
The remaining four charges are for selling single cigarettes or selling cigarette packets that did not display standard health warnings.
The offences are said to have occurred between January and November last year.
Nine of the charges carry a maximum fine of $50,000 each, while the remaining three carry maximum fines of $5000 – a total of $465,000.
A Ministry of Health spokesperson said infringement notices were routinely issued for sales of vaping products to minors.
In this instance, Te Whatu Ora (Health NZ) carried out a “substantial investigation” into the accused’s store, including several sting operations, a ministry spokesperson said.
He is due to appear in the Christchurch District Court on March 26.