An Australian YouTuber who vowed to flee the country over the federal government’s ban on vaping made good on his threat and fired one last shot at authorities.
Known online as Vaping Bogan, Samuel Parsons told his 186,000 subscribers in January that he would be forced to move abroad to save his career reviewing vaping products for a living.
Parsons recently returned briefly to Adelaide after spending the last five months in the UK, where his wife has dual citizenship.
The vaping influencer now intends to live permanently in the UK with his young family.
The father-of-two said the government’s “terrible” decision to ban the import and sale of vapes forced him to leave Australia, which he called a “nanny state”.
Australian YouTuber Samuel Parsons, better known online as Vaping Bogan (pictured), is moving permanently to the UK with his young family to escape Australia’s strict anti-vaping laws.
‘Vaping is more accessible in… Russia and China than it is in Australia at the moment and that says a lot. We are no longer a free country,” she told the Advertiser.
“Everything I do will disappear if I stay in Australia.”
He questioned why Australians need a prescription to vape when cigarette smoke is still widely accessible to the public.
Parsons added that he will only return to Australia if the new laws are removed and the government allows adults to make their own decisions.
The YouTuber believes the ban will only strengthen the black market for vapes and will not reduce the number of Australian children who vape.
“When the black market is bigger than before the ban and vaping rates among youth have not decreased, these politicians will be left with egg on their faces,” he said.
“They will destroy the hundreds of legitimate vaping businesses trying to help people quit combustible tobacco and will only make the problems of youth vaping and unregulated vaping products even worse.”
Parsons added that proposed plans in the UK to ban single-use vapes will not affect him as he does not review them.
Parsons has been living in the UK with his wife for the past five months, where the only bans are on single-use vaporizers, and he can continue to review products on social media.
The federal government has banned the import and sale of single-use disposable vaporizers (pictured) in Australia.
Laws prohibiting the sale of vaporizers have been in place since 2021, before the Albanian government introduced a more aggressive policy.
New legislation introduced on January 1 banned the sale of nicotine vaporizers in specialist retailers and convenience stores.
The crackdown led to police raiding several stores across the country, while Australians 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 Sydney stores, even after new government measures.
In response, Health Minister Mark Butler said the government “will not stand by and allow this to happen”, warning shops selling vapes to find a new source of income.
“I have told companies that are making money from this business that they will have to find another way to make money,” Butler told Daily Mail Australia.
“Vape shops are deliberately setting up near schools; it’s an industry that targets its products at children.”
Vaping can cause nicotine addiction and lead to seizures and death even in products promoted as nicotine-free.
Samuel Parsons, better known online as Vaping Bogan, says Australia’s tough new laws have forced him to move to the UK to continue his YouTube career.