Are Australian teenagers turning their backs on vaping?

A promising early sign: that’s how Professor Nicholas Zwar views research showing a fall in the number of Australian teenagers vaping since wide-ranging reforms came into place last year.
 
The Generation Vape research project, led by Cancer Council NSW in partnership with the Daffodil Centre and the University of Sydney, evaluated attitudes and behaviours among 14–17-year-olds nationally towards vaping at six-month intervals from February 2022.
 
A report released last month shows the highest percentage of ‘never vapers’ (85.7%) among that age-group was recorded in November last year, shortly after new vaping laws were introduced.
 
The authors described it as a ‘significant change’ from the previous six-month survey, when that figure stood at 82.8%, and the highest since they began monitoring the impact of new laws.
 
‘The social acceptability of vaping appears to have weakened with fewer adolescents with friends who vape, and reporting being stronger in their conviction they would not vape, even if offered one by a best friend,’ they wrote.
 
‘These are promising early signs that Australia may have reached peak levels of adolescent vape access and use.’
 
That sentiment is echoed by Professor Zwar, Chair of the RACGP Smoking Cessation Expert Advisory Group, although he said it will be a while before the full impact is clear.
 
‘It is encouraging,’ he told newsGP. ‘It’s early days … it fits with anecdotes I’ve heard that the problem of youth vaping is not as acute as it was, and that things have got a bit easier for schools with managing vaping in their environment, and for parents as well.
 
‘It’s great to see this work being done to see whether there is an impact from the legislative changes.’
 
The sweeping reforms phased in last year were largely backed by the RACGP, and included legislation banning the sale of all vapes outside of pharmacies, as well as a clampdown on packaging and flavouring and a ban on the import and sale of disposable vaping products.
 
While initial reforms were going to make vapes prescription only, these were eventually watered down to allow those aged over 18 to buy vapes in pharmacies, with adolescents under the age of 18 still requiring prescriptions to buy vapes legally.
 
The Federal Government also recently cited another study carried out by the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), which found vaping rates in that state fell by a third in 2024 compared to the previous year.
 
According to those researchers, vaping rates for those aged 30 to 59 dropped furthest by 46%.
 
Professor Zwar, meanwhile, says issues surrounding access are far from solved.

‘Despite the fines and the seizures, in most parts of the country, and that certainly includes where I live here on the Gold Coast, the vape shops are openly continuing to sell illegal vapes, and the number of prosecutions doesn’t seem to have stopped that,’ he said.
 
‘Some vape shops closed down with the advent of the laws, but some are continuing to sell illegally.
 
‘Everyone knows that, so access is still a problem.’
 
He highlighted inconsistencies in the way the supply of vapes is monitored and overseen, pointing out that in some jurisdictions, vapes can be prescribed to under-18s but are not allowed to be dispensed to that age-group in pharmacies.
 
However, he also believes the new research suggests a possible shift in attitudes, which he believes may have been influenced by the impact of the crackdown on pricing.
 
‘The message that … these things are just attractive things that you can use without risk – I think that perception has changed,’ Professor Zwar said.
 
‘Another factor is they’ve got quite a lot more expensive with the regulatory changes.’
 
Professor Zwar said the average cost of an illegal vape had increased from $15–$20 to around $70 locally to him – and he believes the pattern is likely to be similar around Australia.
 
‘We know from adolescent smoking that adolescents are more price sensitive than adults in terms of their use of nicotine,’ he said.
 
Australia’s reforms were the first in the world to limit the supply of vapes to pharmacies and introduce such strict measures to control their sale.
 
The Generation Vape report describes a push to protect young people from the impact of vape and tobacco industry exploitation as a ‘driving force’ behind the new laws.
 
The impact of the regulation in Australia is being closely watched overseas. Last year, the United Kingdom signalled its intent to introduce much stricter laws on the marketing and supply of vapes.
 
Professor Zwar believes the history of nicotine and the way it is marketed means the reforms’ effect will continue to require careful monitoring.
 
‘There will be new ways of people with a commercial interest trying to deliver this addictive drug to people, including young people, so constant vigilance is needed,’ he said.
 
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