What is the issue with 'vape shops'?

[SnufkinsSpiritAnimal]

I see it mentioned in threads about declining towns, and whilst I understand that chicken shops, betting shops and such tend to pop up more regularly in downmarket areas, why is a vape shop a signifier of this?

Surely people from all areas and backgrounds might wish to give up smoking cigarettes and use vaping as a way to bridge the gap? Why would it be associated with a 'bad area'?

I must say that currently I live in a town that has sped downhill faster than a bat out of hell, especially since the pandemic, and there's no improvement in sight (rising crime, knives, dereliction and drugs).
But we only have one vape shop, to my knowledge here.

Selling drugs is a 24/7 business and you need somewhere to take the cash back to

Because you can put more money through (launder) in 24 hours than 12?

They have to try to look realistic

Seriously? You need a chicken shop to store drug cash?

There are some very vivid imaginations on this thread.

Why does it smell ? It's not where people go to vape, just to buy . You don't see people who buy cigarettes, smoke in the supermarket !

I also suspect that vape shops are so popular as a front because everyone knows demand for vapes is high and growing, but vaping hasn't been around for long enough for there to be good data suggesting what an expected turnover would be. So it's easier for bigger sums of money to be laundered without it looking suspicious than e.g. a clothes shop where a sudden spike in turnover relative to other clothes shops would ring alarm bells.

Not wanting to shit entirely on Turkish barbers, some local ones do seem busy but some are clearly empty most of the day. To see 5 in a tiny highstreet where previously there were none doesnt add up except for nefarious reasons. And often multiple guys "working" there despite traditional barbers only having 1 or 2 chairs.

But we’re being told that these shops bank dirty money that hasn’t been earned through the business. What you seem to be saying is that the laundering is drug dealers and other crims using illicitly gained money to buy huge quantities of vapes and fried chicken.

Can’t see it myself.

@Rummly I'm an academic/researcher although work closely with law enforcement.

Thank you. What a great job!

So they never smoked cigarettes before?

Barbers and nail bars are ideal for money laundering, even if they are busy with genuine customer. You have actually done 25 haircuts/manicures then you put 50 through the books. Because there is no stock no one can prove you didn’t do it.

?? The chicken and vapes dont exist in great numbers. They've got fake invoices for the goods purchased and real cash for the income. If theyre open 24/7 the earnings potential is huge even though hardly and customers step foot in the shop, ergo cleaned cash monies.

There is sadly a huge number of children vaping who never smoked.
Yes they might help some smokers give up but I would suspect the number of children taking it up is higher.

@Onesailwait I think a lot of people commenting have never been in a vape shop, I’ve always found the staff very knowledgeable and the products are certainly not cheap.

@butterpuffed staff smoke the vapes in the shop because they are legally allowed to.

You mean they fake the invoices - as if they’re selling more than they do? So where does the “real cash” come into it?

If they’re not selling much, what’s the laundry?

If it’s banking money the business didn’t generate, why stay open till one in the morning? (Other than to receive and hide drug money in the fridge, obvs. Though why the deep fried chicken-fancying drug dealers don’t just let themselves in when the shop’s shut and hide the money anyway I can’t fathom.)

Yes banking money the business didnt generate. So as not to arouse the suspicions on the Revenue the longer they open the more they can make. If their opening hours were 4 hours a day and they were selling 12 hours worth of chickens then it could arouse suspicions.

But that’s my point. Tax inspectors would look at the books, not clock the opening hours or sit outside marking down how many spicy wings with chips and coleslaw are being sold.

Because they're a very niche kind of shop, and we need more shops in our towns that cater for everyone.

It makes it easier for people to get vapes, particularly young people.

I genuinely think vapes should be free on prescription for a set amount of time so people can use them to quit smoking, which is what they're designed for. So many people are taking up vaping without having ever smoked, and that's insane.

So yeah, we don't just want lots of nice, colourful, sweet smelling vape shops to entice people into easy, cheap, dangerous habits.

Perhaps we’re talking about different types of vape shop? This is what I’m talking about - sells vapes, and buys stolen mobile phones and laptops from gangs of teenagers on ebikes ,

My understand is that the drug money is put through the books of the shop.
So if I sold some heroin and I had £1000 in my pocket, I need to “wash” that money to make it clean and usable. If I just put it in my bank account, eventually it would start to look suspicious. Where was it coming from? Was I paying tax etc. So instead I give it to the vape shop, owned by other members of my gang. They bank it in their vape shop account, where it’s recorded as vape sales. Suddenly it’s clean legitimate money. I don’t actually buy vapes though.

@Rummly I agree with other posters that there are definitely some dodgy businesses, selling knock off goods, maybe some drugs and probably some laundering but it is telling that all the shops accused of this tend to be run by immigrants. I know there are lots of vape shops, Turkish barbers and charity shops in my struggling town. But the Turkish barbers are great, do the full caboodle that other barbers don’t and the vape shops have a wide range of vape related paraphernalia and are knowledgeable about their products. We also have many Polski Skleps (which I love) but that is due to a very large and established Polish population. I just feel some of these accusations have a whiff of xenophobia at best.

@Miyagi99 I’m guessing you don’t have teenagers. Teens and young adults are bypassing cigarettes and going straight to vapes.

Without vaping I'd have never given up smoking four years ago and I was a heavy smoker for 14 years. I've got down from 20mg to 3mg nicotine and I'm trying to gradually stop. It's been invaluable

However when I see teens and young people vaping it angers me.

@MumblesParty it was the poster’s husband I was enquiring about. I know children go straight to vaping but they are buying them illegally (as we used to buy our cigarettes illegally as children) and it should be that that is cracked down on.