Vaping

Vaping amongst young people

Australian surveys show vaping by young people has increased.16, 17

Young people who vape nicotine are exposed to a toxic chemical that can harm adolescent brain development (the brain continues to develop until the age of 25) and lead to dependance.2

There is also some evidence that vaping nicotine is associated with later tobacco use among teenagers.20-24

Why are young people attracted to vaping?

The advertising and promotion of vaping products is illegal in Australia.

However, companies can use other strategies to target youth.

Social media has been found to play a role as both an information source and as a means of exposure to e-cigarette advertising in Australia.25

Companies are also glamourising their products to seem cool or fun and creating flavours that appeal to young people.26

There have been a number of studies which have found that e-cigarette flavours which give off the perception of sweetness (such as candy or fruit flavoured) may make buying and trying e-cigarettes more appealing among young people.27-29

Alcohol and Drug Foundation Australia

The Influence of Influencers and Big Tobacco 

#VapeTricks on Tiktok and Instagram have attracted hundreds of millions of views, Instagram Influencers 'influence' adolescents and the flavours hit the sweet tooth at just the right spot. With novelty and flavour comes dangers and an increased likelihood of addition, not to mention a pathway to cigarettes. 

#VapeTricks has almost 300 million views on TikTok. Here's why that's not cool 

Vaping by teenagers on rise as tobacco companies try to hook a new generation on smoking 

Fact Sheets and Resources

• DARTA - E-Cigarettes and Vaping 

• Alcohol and Drug Foundation - Vaping and Young People 

• DARTA - Teenagers, Alcohol and other Drugs 2020  - Paul Dillion Presentation

• NSW Health - Electronic Cigarettes  

• Teens Health - Vaping: What you need to know 

Learn more about Vaping 

Work through the following presentations 

1. Use the information on the slides and in notes below slide to create detailed summaries 

2. Complete any questions and activities within the documents 

What's so bad about vaping?  

Vaping Quiz  

Why do e-cigarettes and vaping matter to young people? 

Pod-based Systems 

Advertising and Vaping - Deconstructing Advertising 

Resource - Don't be Played! Use this resource to learn more about advertising and vaping.  Also tak time to read the articles to the right and below. 

1. Read through the presentation and write notes 

2. History of advertising and tobacco - Slides 5-7

3. Watch the advertisement on Slide 8 and  use these questions to to guide you in reflecting about the impact of power of advertising and vaping. 

4. Continue to read through the slides and use the Talking Points in the 'notes' to help your understanding. 

5. View the video on slide 24 and read through the slides that follow. Why is this information important to understand why young people might be attracted to vaping? 

6. View the video on slide 32 and the following information. Create an anti-vaping poster or video for young people your age. 

7. Vaping in the news: Read the three articles below and summarise what each article using the 5W Framework (That is answering these questions - Who is the author?Where is the information from i.e. what place, country? When was the article written? What is the article about? Why was the article written? )

8. Reflection: Following your research - How has your views and understanding about vaping changed? Write about this or speak with an adult to discuss. 

Additional Resources from Stanford Tobacco Prevention Toolkit