Port Macquarie youth bucking illegal vaping trend, according to local outlets

Vaping is the act of inhaling and exhaling liquid droplet vapor from an electronic cigarette.

Adults can buy and use e-cigarettes that do not contain nicotine in Australia, however it is illegal to sell e-cigarettes or e-cigarette accessories to a person under 18 years of age.

Despite this the number of 14 to 17-year-olds nationally who use electronic cigarettes increased from 8.8 per cent in 2016 to 11.3 per cent in 2019, according to the Australian Health and Welfare Institute's National Drug and Alcohol Survey 2019.

Sixty-four per cent of cigarette smokers and 20 per cent of non-smokers aged 13 to 24-years-old had tried vaping.

A NSW Department of Education spokesman said vaping by students at school has not presented as a significant issue in Port Macquarie.

"Our schools are smoke free environments. Such devices are banned in our schools," he said.

"We support schools communicating with parents about this issue.

"Disciplinary action taken against a student in possession of e-cigarettes is consistent with the approach taken to students who bring tobacco onto the school premises. School staff would provide support to students.

"A teacher's decision about using e-cigarettes outside school is a personal matter."

Vape businesses helping smokers kick the nicotine habit are given a bad name by 'industry cowboys', says Port Macquarie Vapour Power manager James Bodie.

"We've been a business for about five or six years and vape shops like us have self-regulated from the start," he said.

"We've never sold nicotine, we didn't sell to people who were under 18 and if a non-smoker came in wanting to start we would talk them out of it because that's not what it's for.

"We have always asked for this industry to be heavily regulated because we have a lot of cowboys out there doing the wrong thing and it is not helping.

"It's very rare for us to have under 18s even attempt purchase in Port Macquarie and they are very promptly turned around."

King of the Pack Port Macquarie tobacco store proprietor Bev Kelsey said they have stopped selling vaping equipment and are phasing fluid out at their store.

"Over the years we have all different sorts of vaping equipment but they were more trouble than they were worth," Mrs Kelsey.

"You had to replace barrels, if the glass broke it had to be replaced. Many people would use a vape as a substitute throughout the week between cigarettes but a lot of people got fed up with replacing fluids.

"We found them a hassle even though they did sell when we had them. We've stopped keeping them now."

The laws regarding vaping include a ban on the sale and use of e-liquid nicotine under the NSW Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Regulation 2008. The Therapeutic Goods Administration has not approved e-cigarettes as an aid to help smokers to quit.

The NSW Department of Health recommends that e-cigarettes are not harm-free and may expose users or bystanders to chemicals that are harmful to health.

Australian Medical Association vice president Dr Chris Zappala said the nation should not become complacent about health and smoking.

"Australia has done a great job in reducing the number of smokers, and we now have one of the lowest smoking rates in the world," Dr Zappala said.

"Big Tobacco has sought to promote e-cigarettes and vaping as healthy alternatives to normalise smoking among younger people. They are not healthy.

"GPs are a great source of information and advice for those wishing to quit smoking, and can also prescribe nicotine solutions to patients where appropriate."

Cancer Council NSW tobacco control manager Alecia Brooks said the short and long-term health effects of e-cigarettes are currently being researched.

"As e-cigarettes are relatively new it means that there is not enough data available to determine the long-term health effects."

"They may expose users and bystanders to chemicals and toxins such as propylene glycol, glycerol or ethylene glycol that cause adverse health effects, and may increase the risk of developing cardiovascular, cancer and respiratory diseases.

"E-liquids or vapour may also contain potentially harmful chemicals which are not present in smoke from tobacco cigarettes.

"Rigorous systematic reviews of the evidence have shown e-cigarettes are no more beneficial than established quit-smoking aids - which are not aggressively promoted to young people.

"On Australian Government data, the largest relative growth in e-cigarette use in the in the three years up to 2016 has been in 18 to 24-year-old non-smokers."

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