Shock confessions from teen vaping addicts prompt pleas for help in schools

Reluctant teen addicts are “snuggling” their vapes in their sleep and skipping class for a puff despite the government’s legislative crackdown. Read their shock confessions.

Lily Ford vaped every day for three years before she quit. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Reluctant teen addicts are “snuggling” their vapes in their sleep and skipping class for a puff despite the government’s legislative crackdown, prompting a plea for more nurses and school counsellors to help treat students’ vaping vices.

In anonymised interviews, teenagers from across the country have confessed to becoming addicted to the “head spinning” effects of nicotine vapes after starting out as social vapers with their school friends.

One student, a 17-year-old Victorian boy, said he “really want(s) to stop but it is very hard,” while another, a female student also from Victoria, said the “withdrawals (are) really, really bad”, causing restlessness and anxiety.

An Australian schools survey found 12.9 per cent of teens aged between 12 and 15 had vaped in the past month while one in five teens aged 16 to 17 had vaped in the past month.

Chief investigator for the Generation Vape research project, Becky Freeman, said more and more of the young people she interviewed were desperate to quit but were addicted to the hit.

Becky Freeman is researching teenagers’ attitudes towards vaping. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“We’ve seen a real rise in the number of people saying they vape when they’re stressed or anxious, which for me is a huge red flag and a sign of addiction,” Dr Freeman said.

One 17-year-old female student at a NSW private school reported struggling to sleep without her vape.

“As soon as I open my eyes, I’m looking for my vape. I used to snuggle my vape … in bed … like without it in my hand (I could not) sleep,” she said.

Dr Freeman said it was “absolutely crucial” school nurses and counsellors were trained to help students quit vaping.

“We need to make sure that there’s support and services available for young people who do want that extra help to quit,” she said.

However, Australian Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools spokeswoman Marilyn Campbell said with mental health professionals “scarce on the ground” in schools, most teen addicts never made it past the teacher or deputy principal who caught them.

Teenagers have reported becoming addicted to vaping after trying it with friends at school.

“We can’t continue to place the responsibility on teachers, but the school leaders – people who are dealing with these issues – should be trained to recognise addiction and work on behaviour change,” she said.

Australian Secondary Principals Association president Andy Mison said school leaders needed more integrated support from health services to help deal with the addiction dilemma, with teachers and principals facing an “ever-increasing burden of care”.

“We really do need to get serious about bringing in other services around our schools, for example health and community services,” he said.

“Schools can’t keep doing everything alone … and I think governments have a responsibility to stop talking about it and actually work through the specific mechanisms.”

A spokeswoman for the NSW Cancer Institute said vapers, including young people, were more likely to quit successfully if they had help from a health professional.

“There are a number of practical tips young people can use to support them to quit,” she said.

“This includes picking a quit date and making a quit plan, telling friends, family or a health professional about their quit plan, getting rid of any vapes, quitting with a supportive friend, identifying their vaping triggers so they can develop a plan to manage them and reaching out for help when they need it.”

Australian Medical Association NSW president Michael Bonning warned new importation bans and nationwide legislation banning the non-pharmaceutical sale of vapes would take years to prove effective, and in the meantime more kids could turn to cigarettes for their nicotine hit.

“We were asleep at the wheel about vapes for a long period of time and because of that, we’ve allowed a market and a dependence among some young people to become established,” Dr Bonning said.

“We have to be in this for the long haul.”

In a schools survey, more than 20 per cent of 16-17 year olds had vaped in the past month.

The NSW government will spend $2.5 million this year to increase services to help young people quit vaping, and a further $25 million will be spent on “tobacco and e-cigarette control”.

Health Minister Ryan Park said school-aged children are “a particularly vulnerable target of vape pushers” and urged the public to “dob in” stores selling the now illegal products.

“We are making significant investments in not only awareness and prevention campaigns, we’re also ensuring that the supports are available for those who want to quit these highly addictive devices,” he said.

Only getting pneumonia three times stopped me

When university student Lily Ford started vaping at 18-years-old, rumours swirled the “little sticks” would improve her grades and help her concentrate.

“I just remember during my Year 12 exams, I was sitting in my room with a friend and we were sharing a vape while studying together,” she said.

“It just became an activity that we did and while it did give you that little peak of concentration at the start, as it hit the bloodstream that turned into irritability and a lack of concentration so it became harder to focus on the work.”

It took Lily Ford contracting pneumonia three times before she quit. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Ms Ford, now 22 and managing her own wellness page on Instagram, was first introduced to vaping at 16, after the “popular students” at her school started using the black market goods.

“I remember the cool clique of students getting their hands on the disposable device, and we started to see them circulating at parties,” she said.

“I noticed whoever had the device on them would have people circulating around them … and every second person would have at least tried it for themselves.”

Ms Ford vaped every day for three years, even when she was sick with Covid-19 and pneumonia.

“I was so sick, I had hair loss, acne, weight gain, the mental health side effects were terrible but I would not say that I was an addict, which has just completely flabbergasted me now because I was 100 per cent an addict,” she said.

It was after the third time Ms Ford had pneumonia she realised she had to turn her life around.

Vapes confiscated from NSW schoolchildren. Picture: Dr Jody Morgan /Dr Celine Kelso

“It took me about three months of consistent hard work and mental discipline to stop,” she said.

The results of a new ReachOut survey found almost a quarter of parents were concerned about their child’s smoking or vaping habits.

Ms Ford took up running as a way to tackle vaping, but QUIT director Rachael Anderson said there were other ways students could get the help they needed.

“One in three school-aged children have tried vaping which is an astounding figure,” she said.

“In Victoria, we’ve been working very closely with the Department of Education to develop some curriculum-based resources that can be embedded into the classroom environment (to teach students about the dangers of vaping).

“We’ve also got services available for teachers and parents and encourage them to reach out to Quit.”

Those that need support from a Quit counsellor can call Quitline on 13 78 48, or can message the service via WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger.

Do you have a story for The Daily Telegraph? Message 0481 056 618 or email [e-mail]

Originally published as Shock confessions from teen vaping addicts prompt pleas for help in schools