Is your teen vaping?

Imagine you’re addicted to Maltesers. You know, the small, round chocolates that when you eat one, you just can’t help but take another. Imagine for a moment that you’re hopelessly dependent on Maltesers. When you get up in the morning, you can’t help but eat one (or five). When you’re on your way to work: Maltesers. Whenever you take a break: Maltesers. Whenever you’re happy: Maltesers. Whenever you’re sad: Maltesers. Whenever you’re stressed: Maltesers. 

You know it’s not a healthy habit—but you tell yourself it’s not hurting anybody and whatever ill health effects it has on you are probably not that big of a deal anyway. Your friends and family think it’s weird that you’re so reliant on Maltesers and many of them worry if it’ll have effects on them, too. 

Then, imagine in this bizarre fantasy, that suddenly, Maltesers are banned nationwide. You can’t get them anywhere and you come to the awful realisation that you’re addicted—and now have no way to satisfy your addiction. 

Though this scenario may sound absurd to you, a parallel version of it is happening now in real-time. From July 1, 2024, in Australia, tobacconists, vape shops, corner stores and the like are no longer permitted to sell vapes of any type. Only pharmacists can do so—and only for the purpose of helping someone quit smoking. From October 1, 2024, in Australia, people aged 18 and under are no longer legally able to purchase vapes from anywhere—unless they have a prescription (depending on the state). 

“We don’t want easy access,” says Professor Renee Bittoun. Bittoun spoke with us a year ago, when in Australia there was little legislation in place to protect against vaping addiction. “We don’t want just anybody being able to buy them in a lolly shop or a 24-hour convenience store.” Bittoun is passionately opposed to vapes due to her decades-long career as a respiratory disease expert. She founded one of the world’s first smokers’ clinics in 1979 and in the same vein, also started one of the first vapers’ clinics just a few years ago. She played a pivotal role in lobbying against the cigarette industry in Australia and is partially responsible for the heavy restrictions on smoking today.

more than a slap on the wrist

Though vapes haven’t been been done away with completely, Bittoun was quick to point out the fines small stores can face if they sell them. “They were a bit of a slap on the wrist a year ago—a couple of thousand dollars if that, which was nothing to a small store. Now, it’s in the many thousands and in fact, in South Australia and Western Australia, it’s in the millions.” It’s also much more expensive to purchase any tobacco product in Australia. “Last time we spoke, I would have told you a pack of cigarettes cost between 40 and 50 dollars. Today, you go to your major supermarket, and it could be 70. That’s a lot of money if you’re doing that every day. It was a lot of money a year ago. Now it’s a huge amount of money. And if you’re doing a packet a day, which is commonly what people do, this is much more than your pension if you’re on a pension. Much more.”

is your teen addicted?

If all this sounds like good news, that’s because it is. Vape consumption is going down but Bittoun warns it’s no reason to rest on our laurels. While the sudden crackdown on vapes nationwide is cause to celebrate, the sudden inaccessibility is a real potential problem for parents whose teens have become addicted. “Keep in mind, nicotine is a very short-acting drug, which means it wears off very quickly. Imagine being a teacher in a classroom where a child has just vaped surreptitiously. In half an hour, they’re feeling agitated, distressed, anxious. They can’t concentrate and they’re aggressive. Class isn’t over yet, so they can’t get out of there. So, they’re not very nice, they’re not very happy, they want to vape, and some of those kids I know run out of the classroom, do it under their shirts and then they’ll get in trouble.”

The burning question on my mind was what the signs of vaping in teenagers are. 

“Most importantly, it’s the agitated behaviour,” Bittoun says. “Keep in mind, we’re talking about adolescents who are already moody to start with. But if they’re unusually moody, it may be a sign. Hiding it is difficult, too. Can you smell it in the house? If it’s pineapple-flavoured, you might. But sometimes they’re very good at hiding that, too. We don’t want to go down the route of parents testing their children, because it’s very unpleasant and probably in terms of negotiating with your child, it’s counterproductive.

“Are they going to become unwell from it?” muses Bittoun. “They may become ill—not from vaping, I mean. But from not vaping. Mood and behaviour changes can all be signs of withdrawal Nicotine itself raises your heart rate. What we’re seeing in emergency rooms all around the country is children fainting from vaping. They’ll faint because their heart rate suddenly goes up really quickly, which can lead to fainting. The problem is, they don’t usually disclose they’ve been vaping because, of course, mum and dad are there. Standard procedure in all emergency departments is to test for drugs but they don’t necessarily test for nicotine. So, we’re trying to convince hospitals to add nicotine testing to their standard procedures.”

dangers down the road

It’s still early days for vaping, and while I hope we never have to find out, I was curious as to whether researchers have discovered long-term effects on people who vape regularly.

“Probably the stand-out is the effects vaping has on the heart. In particular, young peoples’ hearts, as I mentioned already. What we’re seeing now is otherwise-healthy young people suffering cardiovascular effects from vaping. Is there a risk of lung cancer? We don’t know, as lung cancer doesn’t manifest within a year or two of smoking. We’ve had maybe five years of vaping, so we’ve probably got another five-to-ten years to wait and see. I always advise people that it’s better to not do it and then find out later.”

Bittoun warns that it’s not just your heart that’s at risk.

“The other thing is that dentists are seeing changes in oral mucosa, which they’re particularly concerned about now. We’re always wary of leukoplakia—when your tongue is white. There’s more leukoplakia with kids who vape, as well as the dental issues. We also don’t know how the flavourings vapes come in, when mixed with the vape itself, will affect you long-term. Who knows what effects those chemicals will have?”

If my conversation with Professor Bittoun could be summed up in one word, it would be “bittersweet”. The public health wins Australia has achieved in the past 12 months are remarkable. To move on vapes so quickly is, frankly, astonishing and it’s in no small part thanks to people like Bittoun. The “bitter” part, however, is the knowledge that even if vapes become effectively illegal (which they very nearly are for most people right now), there will still persist an illegal market all-too-eager to satisfy (for the right price) the addiction of those who got addicted when vapes were cheap and easy. I’m hopeful that vaping won’t have the monolithic dominance smoking once had in our country. It remains up to each of us to not tolerate vaping in whatever form we find it—for our own sake, and for the sake of our children.