Concerning rise in vaping as experts warn non-smokers are taking up the new vice

Almost seven times as many NSW residents are vaping now as in 2018, with health experts warning there’s “nothing safe” about the shiny devices for non-smokers. See the new figures.

The number of NSW residents who vape has gone up by almost seven times in just four years as experts warn the brightly coloured devices are luring in people who previously never smoked.

More than 468,000 NSW adults had used a vaping device in the 12 months to June 2022 – an astronomical increase compared to 72,000 in June 2018, according to a Roy Morgan survey.

The figures are even more dire nationally, with almost 1.16 million Australians using a vape in the past 12 months in June this year compared to 323,000 in June 2018.

Just 12 per cent of people were using a prescription to buy their vapes, while the majority (53 per cent) purchased theirs from an online or in-store vape shop.

Public health experts are divided on what the new figures mean for the country’s health with some saying it’s better for people to vape than smoke but other warning the rise of vaping was converting people who would otherwise never touch a cigarette.

Vaping has gone up almost sevenfold in just four years.

Sydney University Public Health Associate Professor Becky Freeman said one only needed to compare a packet of cigarettes to a vape to see why so many people were taking them up.

“Look at the products itself, they come in flavours like juicy fruit gum, apple pear, there are lolly flavours, fruit flavours. They smell so good. A lot of people have anti-smoking attitudes, but they don’t extend the same attitude to vaping products,” she said.

“Compare a pack of cigarettes to a vape, they have a graphic warning, plain packing. Vaping packs come in thousands of different flavours, colours.”

Ms Freeman said vapes were helpful for people who had no success with other methods to quit smoking, and those who only vaped for a short period – but the research indicates this isn’t the case.

“It’s not just this survey, we are seeing national health surveys, the NSW population health survey, huge numbers of young people who are non-smokers or also smokers are using these products so they aren’t doing what the manufacturer says they should be doing,” she said.

“If you’re a non-smoker, there is nothing safe about vaping. If you’re a smoker and you’ve tried everything you can and you switch to vaping products for a short period of time to quit smoking, they may be helpful, but this data suggests they are not being used that way.

“This current policy environment where we have non-nicotine vapes available for sale at retail outlets but the nicotine ones you have to have a prescription to access them, it’s not working. Nicotine vapes are so readily available.”

Dr Colin Mendelsohn, who helps people quit smoking, said 60 per cent of people who have vaped only do so “once or twice”.

“Non-smokers rarely become regular vapers; they use it from time to time as it suits them. It’s a good thing for public health overall if the vast majority are former smokers,” he said.

Originally published as Concerning rise in vaping as experts warn non-smokers are taking up the new vice