Vaping Rises Among Young Australians as Cigarette Use Declines

News on July 16, according to foreign media reports, even among those who have never smoked, more and more young Australians are trying e-cigarettes, while moving away from alcohol and illicit drugs.

The latest national household survey shows that one in five young non-smokers has tried e-cigarettes.

In 2016, only just over 2.5% of people aged 18 to 24 were using e-cigarettes.

By 2019, that figure had jumped to more than 5%, with most saying they tried them out of curiosity.

Michael Farrell, director of the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre in New South Wales, said the increase is concerning.

Professor Farrell said that while vaping is in fact less harmful than smoking, they do not want to see an entire age group vaping and potentially progressing to smoking as a result.

The data comes from a survey conducted every three years by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, covering 23,000 Australians aged 14 and above.

Michelle Jongenelis of the Melbourne Centre for Behaviour Change at the University of Melbourne blamed the trend on the marketing of e-cigarettes to young people.

She said the growing use among young people who do not smoke suggests that the vaping industry continues to target this demographic through youth-oriented marketing and the development of youth-appealing new e-liquid flavors such as bubble gum and Red Bull. These are the same tactics used by the tobacco industry in the 1960s, and history has shown us the outcome.

However, smoking cessation doctor Colin Mendelsohn said the vaping industry is not targeting young people in Australia, because advertising is simply not allowed.

His view is that flavors, even those considered more youthful, are an important part of smoking cessation for people of all ages.

He said there are thousands of e-cigarette flavors, "You would be surprised how many adults use these flavors.

The survey found that young vapers were far more likely than older users to have never smoked.

Among 18-24-year-old vapers, nearly 40% were non-smokers, compared with fewer than 10% among those aged 40 and over.

Dr. Mendelsohn said this does not mean vaping is a gateway to smoking.

He said there is no evidence that young people who start vaping but have never smoked will go on to become regular smokers, if they otherwise would not have done so.