Vape shop owners brace for the end to their businesses, and an uncertain future

In recent months, Chris Franzi's team has shrunk from 15 employees to two, as he's watched the deadline approach that will spell the end of his business.

From Monday, Mr Franzi's vape shop Shoozitech will be unlawful to operate, once a vaping sales ban passes parliament with the support of the Greens.

The business owner, who has run the shop for 11 years, and operated five stores before he was forced to scale back to one shop in Canberra's industrial area of Mitchell.

He says customers have stood in his store in tears, and his employees, his family and himself have been left with an uncertain future.

"I have no idea [what will happen]. I have my business that I've grown for 11 years taken away, my right to vape as an adult taken away," Mr Franzi said.

"It's horrible, I've got a family to feed, this is our sole income for us, and it is for my staff as well.

"I'm pissed off."

The federal government struck a deal with the Greens on Monday for vapes to be banned from sale outside pharmacies, and only be available as unflavoured, regulated nicotine vapes sold in plain packaging.

As part of the deal, the government dropped its plan for prescriptions to be required to obtain a vape — though it will still be necessary for the first few months while that change is worked through.

The compromise means adults will be able to access nicotine vapes without a prescription from October.

Health Minister Mark Butler says Australia has a small window to stamp out vaping before a new generation becomes addicted to nicotine or tobacco.

Leading smoking authority Associate Professor Becky Freeman also told the ABC vaping had proven a "disappointing" method of helping people to quit smoking, with only about 13 per cent of people who used vapes to quit finding success.

Pharmacists fear becoming targets of crime

The proposed ban has infuriated pharmacists, who don't want to be vape retailers, and fear becoming the target of organised crime.

Mr Franzi said his business, which only sold non-nicotine vapes, had been ram-raided multiple times over the years and expected pharmacies would become the next target.

"You get targeted when you have this stuff, they will too," Mr Franzi said.

The Pharmacy Guild said it had been contacted by multiple pharmacists who feared becoming the next targets of criminal "turf wars".

"I've been contacted by multiple pharmacies really raising concerns around what it means for their safety and staff, being a target for organised crime," The Guild's Anthony Tassone said.

Criminologists are less certain that pharmacies could become a target of crime however, noting pharmacies already stock items that could be desirable to crime groups, but are not regularly targets.

Health Minister Mark Butler said pharmacists were already involved in helping people quit smoking, and this would simply build on that.

"Pharmacists right around the country for a considerable period of time have been having careful professional discussions with their customers about smoking cessation support. This is an additional tool in the toolkit for smoking cessation," Mr Butler said. 

For Mr Franzi, an ex-police officer, he cannot fathom how a "prohibition" approach is going to work, and says many of his customers will just turn to the black market rather than pharmacies.

"They will just go path of least resistance," he said.

"Stores like ours are going to be shut down, the legitimate operators are going to be gone, we don't sell the illegal stuff, we don't sell the nicotine.

"We will close down, and then you've got a whole bunch of people who have got  the illegal, nicotine-filled disposable vapes that are ready to go to fill the market — and the customers we've got know where to source those from."