A popular Perth tobacco chain and its two directors have pleaded not guilty to illegally selling e-cigarettes after becoming among the first to be charged since Western Australia’s vaping crackdown.
Up in Smoke and its co-directors Kareem Hassan and Hussein Awada fronted Perth Magistrates Court on Wednesday morning over two charges relating to the unlawful possession and supply of a prescription drug.
Up in Smoke co-directors Hussein Awada and Kareem Hassan leaving Perth Magistrates Court on Wednesday.Credit: Jesinta Burton.
The charges were laid exactly one year ago over the sale of a nicotine-containing vape at the chain’s Morley-based café and shisha lounge, which followed a state government crackdown on vendors handing out e-cigarettes to those without a prescription.
Under the Medicines and Poisons Act, the retailer faces a maximum penalty of $225,000, while the directors could be fined up to $45,000.
Defence lawyer James Jackson successfully sought an order for the state solicitor’s office to hand over its case files as part of a document-swap, a process the state’s lawyer Clinton Arnold expected to take up to four weeks.
Magistrate Catherine Crawford adjourned the matter until August 9, where a date is expected to be set for trial.
But neither Hassan nor Awada will be forced to face court when the matter returns unless details of the state’s case persuade them to change their plea.
The pair would not be drawn on the case as they left the court.
A spokesperson from the West Australian health department confirmed targeted operations spearheaded by the regulator had resulted in the seizure of 27,000 nicotine vaping products in the past 12 months.