- By Times’ Junior Journalist Charlie Peterson
Vaping was implied to be the safe alternative to smoking cigarettes. Turns out, it’s not so safe after all, especially for young people.
“Kids are being recruited and trapped at an early age to use e-cigarettes and get hooked on nicotine,” World Health Organization Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said.
“I urge countries to take strong action to protect their citizens, especially children and young people.”
So, what’s the big issue with vaping? Most vapes contain nicotine, which is a highly addictive substance and can negatively affect brain development in teenagers.
Vapes with bright packaging, which has even featured children’s cartoons and appealing names like ‘cotton candy’ or ‘gummy bear’, may make them look fun to minors, are being sold all over the globe, but the liquids inside often contain toxic or cancer-causing chemicals.
To tackle this rising issue in New Zealand, the Government’s introduced new vaping laws.
These changes include banning disposable vapes, removing advertising and in-store displays, adding child-safety features to devices, and increasing punishments for anyone selling to minors.
Dr Daniel Calder, Clinical Director at East Health Trust, says vaping among youth is becoming increasingly worrying.
“Our clinicians are asking more patients about vaping,” he says.
“The numbers are going up, especially among young people who never smoked cigarettes. “Our goal is to make sure our community has clear, accessible information about the risks.”
I asked a group of Macleans College students to fill in a short survey I made about highschoolers vaping, and I can now share the results.
Eighty-eight per cent said they’d never tried a vape, and 42 per cent said they’d been offered one.
I also asked if any of their friends owned vapes, which resulted in 60 per cent saying yes.
My last question was for them to rank vape flavours, with Blue Raspberry topping the ranks with 60 per cent saying it sounded the most appealing, closely followed by Pineapple Ice and Grape.
Whilst vaping may seem harmless, experts warn it’s anything but.
Raising awareness of this issue and staying informed is the best way to protect the health of our future generations.
- Charlie Peterson is in year 9 at Macleans College
