The Australian media ABC has conducted an investigation into the black market of e-cigarettes in Australia. The following is the full text.

I'm pacing the sidewalk of an alley in Sydney's inner west.

It was a cloudy day and it was just starting to drizzle when my phone rang.

"Hi, I'll be there in a minute," the voice on the other end told me.

I watched a white sedan drive into the street.

"Okay, I'm here in my black jacket," I told him.

The car stopped and I went around to the driver's side window.

A young man handed me a plastic bag and I gave him cash. The entire exchange takes about 30 seconds.

It sounds shady, but this is how Australian kids are exposed to illegal nicotine vaping.

"I don't want to be a giant whistleblower, but it's actually pretty easy," 17-year-old Ruby told the outlet.

"There are a lot of small dealers doing local things. You keep calling, like, can I get an e-cigarette? They only need 20 minutes. You just meet them somewhere and they just give it to you ."

"I think it's like any other drug. It's definitely word of mouth. The same goes for any social media."

Year 12 student Ruby is battling a nicotine addiction that started three years ago.

"It's the last thing you do before going to bed. It's the first thing you do when you wake up. Sometimes you wake up several times during the night," she said. "It has total control over you, that's all you can think of."

thriving black market

E-cigarettes are a multi-billion dollar global industry. It is estimated that around 400,000 people in Australia now use e-cigarettes.

In NSW alone, one in 10 people aged 16-24 is now vaping - a figure that has more than doubled in a year.

Although it is illegal to sell or possess nicotine e-cigarettes without a prescription.

A Four Corners investigation found that the black market has flourished due to increased demand and failure to comply with the rules.

Teens are buying cheap disposable e-cigarettes imported from Chinese factories.

We found illegal sales on social media to be widespread, with hundreds of vendors to choose from on Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok.

Many of these dealers use code words and images to illegally sell their products to children and offer free shipping.

Emily Banks, professor of epidemiology and public health at the Australian National University, said vaping was harmful to health, especially for non-smokers and young people.

"They can lead to addiction. They can cause poisoning and toxicity through inhalation, which can lead to seizures, trauma and burns, lung damage," she said.

The federal government commissioned Professor Banks and her team to investigate the dangers of vaping. Her report, released earlier this year, is the most comprehensive review of global evidence to date.

"When we're talking about childhood addiction, e-cigarettes may actually be more dangerous than smoking because they're more accessible, they're more discreet, you can hide them, and they come in a variety of flavors, so they're more appealing to children, And it's for children," she said.

"It's not about quitting smoking in that young population. It's a whole new habit."

State and federal authorities are targeting the illegal e-cigarette market.

NSW Health has raided tobacco dealers and seized more than $1 million worth of stock since January.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has also imposed fines on individuals and online vendors.

Still, the illicit market is thriving.

"It's a de facto ban," Dr. Colin Mendelsohn, an e-cigarette advocate, told the media.

"Every month, millions of illegal, unregulated e-cigarettes are imported into Australia. The black market sells to young people who sell unreliable products that they sell at huge profits."

We investigated the online trade in Chinese-made disposable e-cigarettes, including a website that advertises itself as a major Australian distributor of the popular brand Gunnpod.

Gunnpod Australia claims to supply major tobacconists and sell to online customers.

We ordered Gunnpod e-cigarettes and they were delivered. We also purchased this brand from the four tobacco chains listed on the website - Free Choice, Cignall, TSG and King of the Pack.

None of these e-cigarettes lists the key ingredient -- nicotine -- on the packaging.

We took the devices to the University of Wollongong to confirm what was in them.

Analytical chemist Dr Celine Kelso has tested hundreds of samples and said illegally imported devices often do not list nicotine on the packaging to avoid seizure by border authorities.

She said: "Nicotine is illegal in Australia, so if it's not on the packaging, it's a way for sellers to stop seizing samples.

Dr. Kelso found that the Gunnpod e-cigarettes we purchased all contained high levels of nicotine.

"It's as high in concentration as in those devices," she said.

With the results, we found the people behind the Gunnpod Australia site.

Outside his warehouse in Western Sydney, Liu Hao denied he was running an vaping business or selling Gunnpod vapes.

In the days after speaking with Mr Liu, the website changed significantly.

It now says it has no stock and is working to bring Gunnpod to all pharmacies as Australia's first TGA-approved e-cigarette brand.

Lucy Soud, general manager of retailer King of Pack, said in a statement: "Any alleged sale of nicotine e-cigarettes or e-liquid nicotine is taken seriously by King of the Pack and will be thoroughly investigated.

"Retailers and wholesalers are inspected frequently to ensure compliance with all applicable laws and, where appropriate, escalated to the appropriate authorities."

Cignall national operations manager Cristie Bowler said all franchisees must sign a pledge that they will not sell vaping products, including nicotine.

"We neither condone nor condone the supply of illicit tobacco products by any of our franchises," Ms Bowler said.

children addicted to nicotine

In her final year of high school, Ruby said it wasn't easy to give up vaping. She suffers from withdrawal symptoms including cravings, anxiety and headaches.

A few months ago, Ruby admitted to her mom Nikola that she was vaping and needed help to quit. She is now on nicotine patches, and her mom is in regular contact with her.

"She tried to quit smoking, but she couldn't. She had these very unpleasant symptoms, she didn't like it was confusing to her, and she wanted me to help her find a way out of it," Nicola told us.

"I'm really upset. I'm really worried about her health. I'm really pissed because this product seems to exist almost designed to appeal to kids, but now she can't stop it."

To help her quit smoking, Ruby asked her friends not to vape her, even if she begged.

"It's like a monster taking over you. Like, I'm going to ask you if you have an e-cigarette? They're like, we can't give it to you, and I told them not to, but I'm pissed off," Ruby said.

Her friend Maya told us she saw Ruby try to give up several times.

"It's not a linear progression, you know, it's just up and down, it's really hard, quit this time, or don't quit this time, it doesn't matter, at least she's working on it."