abc.net.au/news/2026-07-08/v… Laura Hunter’s comments raise an important issue but then draw the wrong conclusion. The problem isn’t that vapes contain lithium-ion batteries. The problem is poor-quality, unregulated products. Lithium-ion batteries are found in phones, laptops, e-bikes, power tools and countless other everyday devices. When they are poorly manufactured, damaged or improperly handled, they can fail. This is not a problem unique to vaping. The irony is that Australia’s own policies have helped create a market dominated by illicit products that don’t comply with safety standards. If, as claimed, around 95% of vapes are illegal imports, that is not evidence that regulated vaping has failed. It is evidence that prohibition has handed the market to suppliers with no incentive to meet quality or safety standards. Using an incident involving what appears to be an illicit vape to argue for even more crackdowns ignores the obvious question: Why are consumers forced into an overwhelmingly illicit market in the first place? If public health genuinely cares about safety, the solution is to replace dangerous, unregulated products with regulated ones that meet manufacturing and battery safety standards not continue the policies that created the illicit market in the first place.