If your child is vaping, understanding the risks, addressing addiction and having open conversations can help guide them toward healthier choices and behaviours. Here’s how.
What are e-cigarettes?
“Vape” is a slang term for electronic cigarettes or e-cigarettes. They look (and smell) harmless enough. They are bright, colourful little plastic devices containing liquid which turns to vapour as you breathe it in. They come in hundreds of flavours, from lemonade to watermelon, custard doughnut to blueberry apple pie, to name just a few.
They were originally created by a Chinese pharmacist to help long-term smokers reduce their smoking intake. Technically they give you the nicotine without the smoke and this is where the “safer than smoking” perception came from.
Sadly, vapes have become problematic because they are prime targets for children rather than grown-ups, and even primary school students are “chuffing”. Of course, social media has helped to promote vaping to be cool, and yes, there are even vaping tricks videos on YouTube!
Vapes are much easier to use and hide from parents than cigarettes ever were, because kids can have a quick puff and pop them back into their pocket, and they won’t smell of cigarette smoke.
Children, teens and vaping
When I wanted to learn more about vaping, I turned to my colleague Paul Dillon, director of Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia (DARTA). Paul is one of the world’s leading alcohol and other drug educators and for the past 30 years he has been presenting in schools, so he has spoken with hundreds of thousands of students and is across all the latest research and has his finger on the pulse.
In an episode for the ABC podcast Parental as Anything, Paul reported that while there are a substantial number of kids and teens who have experimented with vaping in Australia, a far smaller number are doing it regularly.
It looks like around one in 10 Year 11 and 12 students vape regularly, and about one in 20 Year 9s and 10s are vaping regularly. Since that chat, new figures have been released that show the number of 14–17-year-olds vaping rose from one per cent in 2018 to 14 per cent in 2023. It is definitely an area of concern for many parents, and some have had to withdraw their teens from school because they cannot cope with a whole school day without vaping.
In some countries, the stats are a bit higher. A 2022 US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study found 14.1 per cent of high school students had vaped recently. In the UK, the number has risen sharply in the past few years with over 20 per cent of kids aged 11 to 17 having tried vaping and the number of 16–17-year-olds who currently vape rising from five per cent in 2018 to 15 per cent in 2023.
Countries like China, Italy, Germany and France have reported a two-fold or greater increase in youth vaping. While we can’t say it’s an epidemic, we can say it’s a big worry.
So, what do we know about vaping?
Let’s get the technical information out of the road so you understand the legality of vaping. Well, first of all, in Australia it is not illegal for kids under 18 to use a vape but it is illegal for them to purchase e-cigarettes and accessories for those devices. It’s also illegal to sell e-cigarettes to juveniles. Large fines can apply. Most teens buy vapes from friends, online or from shops.
An Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) report released in October 2023 on the mental health impacts of vaping on adolescents said that existing research has found the main reasons adolescents identify with vaping are:
- To fit in with peers and social groups or because they enjoy the social element of vaping with friends
- To reduce or manage stress and anxiety, unwind or “escape their problems”
- To experiment or rebel
- For the taste, fun and entertainment
The same report also identified that “vaping is associated with various mental health related conditions, including increased depressive symptoms, perceived stress, anxiety disorder symptoms and suicide-related behaviours”.
While there may be a strong link between vaping and mental health, the cause-effect relationship is unclear. Researchers do not know whether the mental health symptoms come before the vaping behaviours or vice versa. What the research does tell us though is that regardless of the cause, we need to, as the AIFS report says, “provide adolescents with alternative strategies to cope with stress and deal with negative moods, poor concentration and anger”.
The nicotine factor
A huge issue with vapes is that they generally contain nicotine even if they say they don’t—in particular the little plastic, disposable vapes we most commonly see. In fact, according to Paul Dillon, a University of Wollongong study showed that all the vaping devices they’d tracked, even the ones mislabelled as “nicotine-free”, actually did contain nicotine. Some vapes also contain THC, the active ingredient in cannabis.
The first and biggest concern with nicotine, though, is that it is a highly addictive substance, and secondly, it can make people sick.
Paul said that, while it’s not common, nicotine poisoning is on the rise. This can cause vomiting, stomach issues and, in very rare cases, it can cause death. Certainly, you wouldn’t want to leave these things lying around within a baby or toddler’s reach! Research is continuing on the long-term risks of inhaling chemicals that get vaporised. There are obviously no positive benefits to vaping for teens!
The potential to become addicted to anything is far higher in the early stages of adolescence, and vaping definitely can be problematic in this space. If you identify that your teen has become dependent on vaping, you need to remember that nicotine addiction can develop quickly. Your teen will need your help, as well as some professional support.
A good place to start would be your family doctor and then possibly they may need help to access some sort of nicotine-replacement therapy.
Also, since my interview with Paul, in Australia at least, the government has very belatedly introduced legislation making it illegal to import non-prescription vapes into the country, as well as single-use disposable vapes, which will make them harder (but not impossible) for teens to access.
The vapes will no longer be marketed to children so obviously; I applaud this move, and it may now be a real challenge for teens who’ve come to depend on vapes. Although as I write, we are hearing about new flavoured nicotine pouches called Zyns (among other things) that have nicotine absorbed through the gums.
Some people are proposing these are potentially a good way to come off vapes. However, the World Health Organization cautions that many contain “exceptionally high” levels of nicotine, and other experts are sceptical of their effectiveness as a quit smoking/vaping measure and concerned that they may become as addictive for kids and teens as vapes have.
So, what should you do if you find out your teen has been vaping, or you find a vape in their stuff?
Try to gather as much information as you can from both sides before you begin the conversation and remember aim for curiosity with compassion. You will be curious because it’s something that you did not experience as a teen and that’s a great place to start.
If you can, sow the seed of potential around the subject before you have the conversation. Possibly say something like “have you noticed vaping at school or are any of your friends vaping?”
Remember a teen will be very defensive and less likely to open up to you if they feel they have been caught out—they will be like a deer in the headlights! Maybe disclose that information towards the end of the conversation rather than the beginning. You may like to preface this conversation by reassuring your son or daughter how much you love them, no matter what.
If you’re looking for thoughtful guidance on raising teens in today’s world, this interview with Maggie Dent is not to be missed.
Possible opening questions
- They didn’t have vapes when I was young, what are they like? Why do you reckon people like them so much?
- Do many of your friends vape?
- How often are they chuffing?
- Can you tell me how vaping makes you feel?
- Can you tell me how vaping tastes on your tongue?
- Have you heard that it is now illegal to buy vapes without a prescription?
Next steps
So, if they say, for example, “but it’s not as bad as smoking” you can talk about some of the things mentioned above about the lack of knowledge about long-term effects, levels of nicotine and, especially, that it’s a kind of poison.
You could also say that while vaping may be safer than smoking, it’s not as safe as not vaping. In our podcast interview, Paul compared vaping versus smoking in terms of asking someone if they would rather be hit by a bus or a car. Having healthy lungs and brains matters!
You might like to remind your teen that you know taking risks is a part of being a teen, and that often we make choices that our friends are making. Explain that you get that, and that the family values in your home would prefer your teen say no to vaping. Remind them it may take courage in front of their friends, but you think they have the courage.
Creating adolescent outrage may be more powerful than telling your teen not to do something that they see as potentially cool. Maybe you could suggest that the vaping companies have been deliberately targeting children so they could make huge profits and they don’t care at all about making kids sick or addicted. They just don’t care. They just want kids’ money!
The second angle is that many of our teens are concerned about the future of their world. Vape containers are plastic, and they are being found everywhere, including in our fish and dolphins, and in larger birds. There is an enormous environmental cost, and your teen could be part of the change. After all, it’s their world they are creating!
Reassure your teen that you understand that it can be difficult to always make the right choices. It’s important that they are making a choice based on good information, knowing what your family values are.
In an excellent article she wrote in the New York Times, Lisa Damour pointed out that in regard to teens and vaping, research shows that just because we have strong information that doesn’t mean we will necessarily make better choices. This is particularly true of our dopamine-seeking adolescents, whose executive function isn’t fully formed yet.
What if my teen is clearly addicted to nicotine?
Any habitual behaviour is hard to change and being addicted to substances or alcohol or nicotine adds a whole extra layer of difficulty.
Nicotine withdrawal is no picnic. It can leave an individual feeling irritable, grumpy, upset, anxious, sad or depressed, restless, jumpy, hungrier than usual, unable to focus, and it can make sleeping difficult. Given this is how a lot of teens feel much of the time, adolescence is not a great time to withdraw from nicotine!
Once you’ve had the conversation (using the guidance above), there are a few things you can try:
- Support them to set a date and make a plan to quit.
- Often plans follow the SMART method, so you aim to make your teen’s goals Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and give them a Timeframe.
- Help your teen identify things they can do when they feel like vaping, such as going for a walk, having a glass of water, contacting a friend, drawing, putting on a song or fiddling with a pencil. You will notice that many of these are similar to how to shift feeling anxious or really moody.
- ReachOut also suggests teaching them the 4D model for dealing with urges: Delay acting when you get the urge to vape, Deep breaths, Drink some water, and Do something to occupy you until the craving passes.
- I am also a big fan of role-playing a bit with teens. If they feel peer pressure is a factor in their vaping, help them come up with statements they can use to help them say “no”, such as: “Actually, lately I’m finding when I vape it makes me nauseous” or “No thanks, I’m doing a detox” or “I’ve decided not to support companies that are getting rich off us kids” or “I want to save the planet, so it’s no more plastic vapes for me”.
- Your teen may benefit from counselling (some of the quit sites do offer online/phone support).
- If that isn’t sufficient, nicotine replacement therapy may be helpful. Under-18s should see a GP to prescribe NRT and even over-18s should speak with a pharmacist to ensure it’s being used correctly and find the right treatment for them. It should be used for at least eight to 12 weeks.
Read next: What social media is doing to our children’s mental health
Help Me Help My Teen by Maggie Dent, published by Macmillan Australia, RRP: $36.99.
