Nicoteens: vapes are building a new generation of addicts
Despite a new global review showing e-cigarettes are dangerous and addictive, experts say calls to ban them are misguided and could backfire.
The major review by the Australian National University, released last month, found that the use of e-cigarettes or vapes was rapidly increasing in Australian youth, causing “addiction in a new generation of users”.
Vaping and e-cigarette use was reportedly highest among young people aged 18-24, with studies showing users are three times more likely to become cigarette smokers.
Alcohol and Drug Foundation knowledge manager for policy and advocacy, Laura Bajurny, said the expansion of e-cigarette use among young people was disappointing.
“Around 14 per cent of 12-to-17-year-olds have used an e-cigarette – around 32 per cent of these students have used one in the past month,” she said.
“The outcome we hoped to see from vaping was for people to move from cigarettes to vaping nicotine instead. When we see young people start vaping who were not previously cigarette smokers – that’s worst-case scenario.”
Royal Melbourne Hospital paediatrician Dr Anthea Rhodes said e-cigarettes were being bought online and sold in the schoolyard.
Kris Nguyen has been using e-cigarettes for five years. Picture: Tran Thanh Vy Nguyen
“They’re really marketed to teenagers and even younger children with their packaging, flavouring – even the actual design.”
Brightly coloured devices and confectionary flavours, like jelly donut, bubble gum and candy rainbow, are drawing in the younger demographic, emphasising the need for effective drug and alcohol education programs.
New regulations “could backfire”
Buying vaping products without a prescription was made illegal in October 2021 by the TGA – a move Ms Bajurny said might have been misguided.
“I think that the TGA had the best intentions, but the outcome has not been what they intended,” she said.
“We are seeing an increase, especially in young people … at least experimenting with vapes. Risk-taking, especially in adolescence, is very appealing. ‘Oh, I’m the cool kid cause I’m doing the thing they told me not to do’.
“People are going to acquire nicotine e-liquids the same way you get anything else that’s prohibited – [vapes are] not hard to get.”
Dr Mitchell Munnings says banning vapes may encourage their unregulated production. Picture: Claudia Harvey.
Eastern Health medical registrar Dr Mitchell Munnings said prohibition was unlikely to be effective in discouraging young people from vaping.
“I think, traditionally speaking, when you ban things it doesn’t really do its intended job,” he said. “People will find a way … you’re just encouraging people to find different avenues, and potentially more harmful avenues.”
“That process needs to be much more collaborative with younger patients … you need to educate and say, ‘It’s not going to be a problem that you may see in the next six months or six to 12 months, but it is something that could be a problem down the line’.”
Vape use not just about stopping smoking
Dr Shoeman said while adults were using vapes to stop smoking, the majority of young people had different motivations.
“It’s the same trend we saw in the 60s with cigarettes, except it’s now with vapes,” she said.
“Young people are using it as a gateway drug, and they will soon move onto bigger and more harmful substance intake,” she said.
The ABS, National Health Survey 2020-2021 data found that 21.7 per cent of people aged 18-24 had used a vaping device at least once.
The ADF 2020-2021, reports that 64 per cent of 18–24-year-olds have tried vaping and 63 per cent reported receiving their last e-cigarette from a friend.
Campus nurse at Swinburne University Tracey Rutter said younger generations didn’t seem to be aware of the effects vaping could have on their future health.
“I believe the health impacts are similar to cigarettes which contain invisible risks that people can only see in the long-term,” Ms Rutter said.
Campus nurse at Swinburne University of Technology, Tracey Rutter.
“I don’t believe young people understand the full extent of the potential health effects throughout their lifespan. I think the effects and consequences need to be closely monitored.”
University of Melbourne student Wu Jia Tan said they had been vaping for more than a year, despite being aware of the side effects.
“I started using it when I moved to Australia because it is more accessible to get it here than back in my hometown,” Tan said.