Australian vaping study shows youth usage is rising year by year

The latest Australian secondary school alcohol and drug survey data shows that in the past five years, the proportion of students in grades 7 to 12 who have used e-cigarettes in the past month has nearly quadrupled.

This is the largest national survey of legal and illegal substance use among Australian youth, with a total of 10,314 students surveyed between 2022 and 2023.

The survey found that nearly one-third (29.9%) of students had ever used e-cigarettes, compared to 13.5% in 2017. 15.7% of students reported using e-cigarettes in the past month, up from 4.2% in 2017.

Among the surveyed youth, 4.8% identified themselves as "regular" e-cigarette users, defined as using e-cigarettes 20 days or more in the past month.

Among the 16 to 17-year-old respondents, e-cigarette use was even more frequent, with 8.4% of the 3,022 respondents being regular users.

A smaller proportion (3%) of youth used e-cigarettes daily. Female students and older students reported higher rates of e-cigarette use, including ever used, past month use, regular use, and daily use. Among the 4,371 female respondents, 4.2% used e-cigarettes daily, while the rate among 5,288 male respondents was 2.1%.

The release of this new data comes as e-cigarette shops are increasing near schools, despite upcoming reforms in 2024 that will force e-cigarette shops to close and prohibit general retailers from importing and selling both nicotine and non-nicotine e-cigarettes. Only pharmacies will be able to supply nicotine e-cigarettes to those with prescriptions.

Starting January 1, 2024, regulations will be implemented to ban the import of disposable e-cigarettes, while measures will be taken to make it easier for doctors to prescribe e-cigarettes for those wishing to quit smoking. Further measures will be introduced in parliament to support the enforcement of the reforms, including measures targeting the supply chain.

The Australian secondary school alcohol and drug survey is led by the Behavioral Research Center of the Victorian Cancer Council and funded by the Federal Department of Health and Aged Care.

Professor Sarah Durkin, the center's director, stated that the significant disruptions caused by Covid-19 and the proliferation of disposable e-cigarette products in Australia have occurred since the last survey.

Research tracking youth tobacco and e-cigarette use has found that those who use e-cigarettes are about three times more likely to start smoking later.

Durkin said, "We need to intervene before occasional smoking or e-cigarette use becomes regular use."

"Currently, 2% of students smoke at least once a week, and only 5% of students have used e-cigarettes at least 20 days in the past 30 days... We have a small but rapidly closing window to take action to prevent those children who are trying from facing a lifetime of nicotine addiction and health harms."

In early December, the National Health and Medical Research Council allocated AUD 2.2 million for youth e-cigarette research, including developing evidence-based resources to prevent e-cigarette use.

Professor Tanya Buchanan, CEO of the Cancer Council Australia, stated that the latest survey data highlights the importance of the upcoming federal government reforms.

She said, "Young people do not want to smoke."

"They have grown up with graphic health warnings and plain packaging, so they find smoking unattractive. They also think that using e-cigarettes is a completely different behavior from smoking, but may not realize that if they use e-cigarettes, their likelihood of smoking will triple."

"However, there is a harmful and powerful industry intent on luring them into lifelong nicotine addiction."