Latest news with #GenerationVape
The Independent
5 days ago
- The Independent
Drop in school children vaping since Australian ban: study
Australia's health minister, Mark Butler, has attributed a ban on disposable vapes to a significant reduction in vaping rates among school-aged children. The Generation Vape Research Project by Cancer Council reported that vaping among 14-17 year olds decreased from 17.5 per cent to 14 per cent between early 2023 and April this year. The government's 12-month campaign against illegal vape sales has resulted in the seizure of over 10 million illicit vapes, valued at half a billion dollars, in the past year. Although some vapes continue to enter the country, the ban has made disposable vapes more difficult to acquire and substantially increased their price, positively influencing young people. The ban aims to counter the targeting of children by the vape market and disrupt profits for organised crime, with the UK also implementing a similar ban on disposable vapes.
The Independent
5 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
Teenage vaping in Australia has ‘turned a corner' after ban, study says
Vaping among school-age children has significantly reduced, the Australian government has said, citing a study, a year after a ban on disposable vapes. Australian health minister Mark Butler on Wednesday said vaping rates "have now turned the corner" for young children, calling it a result of their 12-month campaign to crack down on the illegal sale of vapes. The nationwide Generation Vape Research Project by Cancer Council conducted an anonymous survey of 3,000 young Australians. Among children aged 14-17 years, vaping rates have fallen from 17.5 per cent to 14 per cent from the start of 2023 to April this year, it has found. Overall, smoking rates among people aged over 15 fell by more than a third, while vaping rates among those aged 30 to 59 dropped by nearly half. 'Vaping rates for young Australians have now turned the corner. Our education and prevention campaigns as well as support to deter people from taking up vaping and smoking or to quit are making a difference', Mr Butler said. Mr Butler said vaping products still "leak" through the border despite their crackdown. "From the time we put this ban in place we never pretended we'd be able to stop every vape coming in," he said. "But we do know that it is harder to get your hands on a disposable vape … that's led to a very significant increase in the price of vapes where they are still accessible, and that's having a positive impact on young people." He said authorities have seized more than 10 million illegal vapes in the past year. The Therapeutic Goods Authority and Australian Border Force (ABF) said the 10 million vapes – half a billon dollars worth of vapes – were taken off the market. Additional seizures included 2.5 billion cigarette sticks and 435 tonnes of illicit tobacco. "It's a market that targets our communities including our children," ABF Assistant Commissioner Tony Smith said. "[It] sends profits into the hands of organised crime, profits that are used to cause further harm through intimidation tactics, arson, firearms, drugs and even cyber crime." Laws introduced to curb vaping banned single-use vapes from being made, imported, advertised and supplied in 2024. Only nicotine vapes were allowed to be legally sold with a prescription in pharmacies.
West Australian
5 days ago
- Health
- West Australian
Vape use among teens dropping for the first time as government regulation stems access
Rates of vaping among young people have started to drop for the first time in signs tighter government regulation is turning the tide. Latest figures from the Generation Vape study reveal 85 per cent of Australian teens aged 14-17 have never vaped, up from 82 per cent in 2023. The proportion of young people who have never smoked is also at its highest too, at 94 per cent. It's a promising sign teens are turning away from nicotine products, with chief investigator of the study Professor Becky Freeman saying the 'social acceptability of vaping over the past few years has shifted'. 'Young people tried vaping as it was marketed to them as fun, 'safe' and full of great flavours, but increasingly young people report the realities of vaping addiction and harm to their wellbeing,' Professor Freeman said. Access to vape products has also declined since the introduction of federal vape laws in July 2024 that aim to limit the sale of vapes to pharmacies only, regardless of nicotine content. About one in four young people reported purchasing their own vape, down from roughly one in three before the laws came into play. Tobacconist and vape shops remained a major source of vape sales with about one in three teens buying from such a retailer, highlighting ongoing difficulties with regulation and enforcement. Chair of the Cancer Council's tobacco issues committee Alecia Brooks said the latest figures were encouraging indicators that vaping laws are protecting young people, but that some retailers 'continue to exploit young people'. 'Some tobacconists and vape shops are still blatantly selling illegal vapes to young people,' Ms Brooks said. It comes as calls to WA's poisons hotline from concerned parents worried their babies have been exposed to vapes have tripled just six months into the year. Speaking on the matter in Budget Estimates earlier this month, Health Minister Meredith Hammat said the spike in calls reflected 'a growing awareness in the community about the harmful nature of vapes'. Since January 2024 the Therapeutic Goods Administration and Australian Border Force have seized more than 10 million illicit vapes with a street value of nearly half a billion dollars. Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said 'vaping rates for young Australians have now turned the corner'. 'Our education and prevention campaigns as well as support to deter people from taking up vaping and smoking or to quit are making a difference,' he said.
BBC News
6 days ago
- Health
- BBC News
Vape ban Australia: Fewer school-age children vaping, study says
School-age children in Australia are vaping less, research suggests, a year after a government ban on disposable vapes came into effect. Vaping rates among 14 to 17 year olds fell from 17.5% at the start of 2023 to 14.6% in April this year, according to the latest update from Cancer Council Australia's nationwide study Generation survey also found rates for people aged over 15 reduced by more than a Health Minister Mark Butler said vaping rates for young Australians "have now turned the corner", adding that officials have seized more than 10 million illegal vapes in the past year. "Our education and prevention campaigns as well as support to deter people from taking up vaping and smoking or to quit are making a difference," he said in a laws to stop single-use vapes from being made, imported, advertised and supplied in Australia were introduced in July 2024. Nicotine vapes can now only be legally purchased with a prescription at pharmacies. However, a black market for nicotine vapes has been thriving in the country for UK similarly banned the sale of disposable vapes from June this are considered safer than normal cigarettes because they do not contain harmful tobacco - but health experts advise that they are not risk-free and the long-term implications of using them are not yet clear. Australian authorities - like those in the UK - were particularly concerned about the uptake of vapes by youth, with Mr Butler arguing the products were creating a new generation of nicotine latest Generation Vape survey found that 85.4% of young people - from a pool of about 3,000 children aged between 14 to 17 - had never than a third of those teenagers expressed an interest in vaping, which the Cancer Council says represents a drop in curiosity about the towards vaping among school-age children are changing too, the researchers said, pointing to interviews conducted in the study where many current or former vapers said they felt a sense of shame or embarrassment about their vape fewer teenagers are reporting that they're able to buy their vapes themselves, however, tobacconists and vape shops remain a key source of vape sales, despite the new to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Wednesday, Mr Butler said he is confident the "peak of vaping" is behind Australia."I know this is a really, really tough fight and we've got a lot more to do, not just in the area of vaping, but illicit tobacco as well," he use remains Australia's leading cause of preventable death - despite some of the strongest anti-smoking laws in the world - and kills more than 24,000 people each year.
Sydney Morning Herald
30-05-2025
- Health
- Sydney Morning Herald
Young Australians throwing away illegal vapes as prices soar
Vaping rates are falling among young adults and high schoolers, prompting Health Minister Mark Butler to claim Australia's world-first vape ban is working. Prices for the fruity-flavoured puffers illegally sold at tobacco and corner stores have risen from about $25 to between $50 and $60 since the middle of last year when Labor introduced one of the strictest public health measures of its term by banning vapes – they are now only legally purchased as anti-smoking aids at pharmacies – and clamping down on importation. Officials have since seized 8 million illegal vapes at the border, mostly manufactured in China and sold under popular brand names Alibarbar and iGet. While they can still be bought, the higher prices and reduced supply has combined with school-level warnings to bring down smoking rates. The rate of vaping has halved to 18 per cent among 18-24-year-olds from early 2023 to now, according to new data from the Cancer Council's Generation Vape report, the most comprehensive survey on vaping in Australia. Among 14-17-year-olds, the rate of vaping was rapidly rising in recent years but started to drop in the last quarter of last year, falling from 17 per cent to 15.5 per cent. The respondents are asked of their experiences in a mix of surveys and long-form interviews funded by the council and government agencies. Loading That drop-off among teens is backed by data from health authorities in South Australia, which showed vaping rates in the 30-to-59 age group had dropped by about half from 2023 to this year, and by about one-third for South Australians aged between 15 and 29. The number of schoolkids in SA being suspended for vaping declined by 50 per cent from the first term of 2023 when there were 388 suspensions compared to 186 in term four last year. 'The vaping legislation has really changed the game,' said Alecia Brooks of the Cancer Council.
