Vapes have seen their popularity rise over the last few years as a ‘good alternative’ to smoking. But are they really?

Also known as e-cigarettes, these small devices work pretty much the same as their older counterparts: put them in your mouth, inhale, and then blow out.

However, vapes have the advantage of being way more (pleasantly) fragrant compared to tobacco cigarettes, which is why among other reasons, they are also popular among today’s youth. They can have cotton candy-flavoured vape ‘juice’ and other novelties to entice them to buy.

As with cigarettes though, they also tend to be addictive, and unfortunately, kids as young as 13 are falling victim.

Dr Sarah White, director of Quitline Victoria, describes the growing problem of vape addiction among the youth as ‘unprecedented’.

‘This year, we have had two 13-year-olds calling for help,’ she said.

Quitline warns e-cigarettes pose serious health risks to teens. Credit: Pexels/Nathan Salt

Counsellors working for Quitline logged many stories of children (and their parents) who want to put an end to their vaping habits.

Based on their internal reports, one of the 13-year-olds said vaping was popular at her school.

‘Kids keep selling vapes in the change rooms,’ she said.

‘They and their friend being the only two in the class not vaping … they want support around the fact that they don’t vape’.

The other one meanwhile called Quitline with support from their teacher. The reports said they were introduced to vaping ‘by older friends’.

In the case of one worried mum, her child began showing symptoms of withdrawal like chest and arm pains after she confiscated her child’s vapes.

Another mum reached Quitline because her 17-year-old fell into complete addiction and had a chronic cough.

Speaking of mums, one had quite a shock last June when what she first thought was a ‘sour lolly’ in her seven-year-old son’s bag turned out to be a vape.

An earlier report by ABC also revealed the existence of a black market for vapes, with teenagers turning to social media to buy and sell e-cigarettes.

ABC’s Four Corners reported on the sale of vapes among minors through social media. Credit: ABC/Four Corners

According to White, 93 out of 1465 new calls (6%) they received from January to September 2022 were from people who wanted help quitting vaping

You might be thinking, ‘That’s not really a lot, is it?’, but White stresses Quitline Victoria had no active promotion of their services in those eight months.

‘This suggests people are proactively searching for help.’ she said.

White also explained why one famous advantage of vapes over cigarettes isn’t as big of an edge as thought.

‘When you smoke a cigarette, you have 10 or 15 puffs, and then you stop and you throw it away. You can look at the packet and say “I’ve got 10 left”.’ she began.

Key Takeaways

• Counselling service Quitline revealed that children as young as 13 have sought their services for help on vaping addiction.
• Parents have also called and asked about dealing with their childrens' vaping addictions.
• Despite not actively promoting their services, Quitline registered 93 calls from people in need of help in an eight-month time span.
• Some pro-vaping groups meanwhile insist the practice should be legalised and regulated.

‘But with e-cigarettes we’re talking about up to 2,400 puffs per pen. So that’s 240 cigarettes, and there’s no natural stopping point. People are now sitting there with this device in their hands just constantly puffing.’

‘The pro-vaping advocates only talk about people who have successfully used vaping to quit smoking, while those that haven’t succeeded don’t tell their stories.’

In reaction to this bombshell from Quitline, some pro-vaping groups blamed the Australian Government’s ban on vapes as the cause of a booming black market.

Moving forward, they want e-cigarettes legalised and regulated.

Pro-vape groups want e-cigarettes legalised and regulated. Credit: Pexels/Renz Macorol

Vapes are currently banned across Australia and are only permitted to be purchased legally with prescriptions.

If you or a loved one need help to deal with a smoking or vape addiction, Quitline can be reached at 13 7848 or request a callback on this link.

What is your reaction to this concerning revelation from Quitline? Do you think enough is being done to address this growing problem?

Please share your thoughts and opinions below!

Source: YouTube/ABC News In-depth​

 

[JehazFNQ]

Are we talking vapes with the legal juice as sold by specialty shops and tobacconists (ie no nicotine) or vaping using nicotine juices bought from overseas, often (or used to be anyway) via NZ? Just wondering as my understanding is that straight no-nicotine vape juices should not be addictive, albeit they carry other health problems associated with burning noxious chemicals and inhaling them.

 

[Gsr]

My 17 year old grandson started vaping when he was 15. He was buying them from an older kid at school, whose 18 year old brother and mother were importing them and supplying the younger school kids. As we couldn’t prove it nothing could be done. Our grandson didn’t want to dob on his so called mate. Most of our grandsons friends vape, both boys and girls. When we try to talk to him about the dangers his typical response is “you are only young once, so do what you want”. Most of these young kids are also drinking hard alcohol, again being supplied by older so called mates. We try to point out the health risks and dangers of what he is doing, and the waste of money, but we might as well bang our heads on a brick wall. Hopefully we will live long enough to be able to say “we told you so” when he starts to have health problems from vaping.

 

[Ricci]

I used a vape to stop smoking and it worked really well, I quit smoking overnight. I then stopped the vape, easy. I still have it in the cupboard and use it occasionally when the mood hits.

 

[Tipsy]

Vapes have seen their popularity rise over the last few years as a ‘good alternative’ to smoking. But are they really?

Also known as e-cigarettes, these small devices work pretty much the same as their older counterparts: put them in your mouth, inhale, and then blow out.

However, vapes have the advantage of being way more (pleasantly) fragrant compared to tobacco cigarettes, which is why among other reasons, they are also popular among today’s youth. They can have cotton candy-flavoured vape ‘juice’ and other novelties to entice them to buy.

As with cigarettes though, they also tend to be addictive, and unfortunately, kids as young as 13 are falling victim.

Dr Sarah White, director of Quitline Victoria, describes the growing problem of vape addiction among the youth as ‘unprecedented’.

‘This year, we have had two 13-year-olds calling for help,’ she said.

View attachment 7927

Quitline warns e-cigarettes pose serious health risks to teens. Credit: Pexels/Nathan Salt

Counsellors working for Quitline logged many stories of children (and their parents) who want to put an end to their vaping habits.

Based on their internal reports, one of the 13-year-olds said vaping was popular at her school.

‘Kids keep selling vapes in the change rooms,’ she said.

‘They and their friend being the only two in the class not vaping … they want support around the fact that they don’t vape’.

The other one meanwhile called Quitline with support from their teacher. The reports said they were introduced to vaping ‘by older friends’.

In the case of one worried mum, her child began showing symptoms of withdrawal like chest and arm pains after she confiscated her child’s vapes.

Another mum reached Quitline because her 17-year-old fell into complete addiction and had a chronic cough.

Speaking of mums, one had quite a shock last June when what she first thought was a ‘sour lolly’ in her seven-year-old son’s bag turned out to be a vape.

An earlier report by ABC also revealed the existence of a black market for vapes, with teenagers turning to social media to buy and sell e-cigarettes.

View attachment 7926

ABC’s Four Corners reported on the sale of vapes among minors through social media. Credit: ABC/Four Corners

According to White, 93 out of 1465 new calls (6%) they received from January to September 2022 were from people who wanted help quitting vaping

You might be thinking, ‘That’s not really a lot, is it?’, but White stresses Quitline Victoria had no active promotion of their services in those eight months.

‘This suggests people are proactively searching for help.’ she said.

White also explained why one famous advantage of vapes over cigarettes isn’t as big of an edge as thought.

‘When you smoke a cigarette, you have 10 or 15 puffs, and then you stop and you throw it away. You can look at the packet and say “I’ve got 10 left”.’ she began.

Key Takeaways

• Counselling service Quitline revealed that children as young as 13 have sought their services for help on vaping addiction.
• Parents have also called and asked about dealing with their childrens' vaping addictions.
• Despite not actively promoting their services, Quitline registered 93 calls from people in need of help in an eight-month time span.
• Some pro-vaping groups meanwhile insist the practice should be legalised and regulated.

‘But with e-cigarettes we’re talking about up to 2,400 puffs per pen. So that’s 240 cigarettes, and there’s no natural stopping point. People are now sitting there with this device in their hands just constantly puffing.’

‘The pro-vaping advocates only talk about people who have successfully used vaping to quit smoking, while those that haven’t succeeded don’t tell their stories.’

In reaction to this bombshell from Quitline, some pro-vaping groups blamed the Australian Government’s ban on vapes as the cause of a booming black market.

Moving forward, they want e-cigarettes legalised and regulated.

View attachment 7928

Pro-vape groups want e-cigarettes legalised and regulated. Credit: Pexels/Renz Macorol

Vapes are currently banned across Australia and are only permitted to be purchased legally with prescriptions.

If you or a loved one need help to deal with a smoking or vape addiction, Quitline can be reached at 13 7848 or request a callback on this link.

What is your reaction to this concerning revelation from Quitline? Do you think enough is being done to address this growing problem?

Please share your thoughts and opinions below!

Source: YouTube/ABC News In-depth​

Arnt these all made by the Tobacco companies just like all the quit patches and the like..... Just like big Pharma they are in the business of making money not caring about anyones health... and of course buying politicians