Children as young as ten vaping as police crackdown on sellers

In a dramatic escalation of the vaping scourge, children as young as 10 are taking up the dangerous trend despite intervention from police and teachers.

A vaping scourge is sweeping the state hooking children as young as ten and forcing police to target a crackdown on sellers.

Primary school teachers have been forced to step in and educate grade five and six students

about the dangers of inhaling nicotine from vapes in both state and private schools.

Children are buying and selling vapes in schools after buying them online or from illegal retailers.

Some students are even given vapes by their parents in the mistaken belief they are safe, principals have reported.

In suburbs such as Melton, residents report the supply and use of vaping products to children is one of the most concerning issues in their community.

Lung Foundation chief executive Mark Brook said “parents and principals from upper primary school, among others, are reaching out”.

“This industry lacks a moral compass, with vapes sewn into hoodie linings and designed to look like asthma holders, highlighters and memory sticks,” he said. “It doesn’t help that products are designed to appeal to young children, with names like mango daiquiri and even branded like Marvel ­superheroes.”

Primary school teachers have been forced to step in and educate grade five and six students about the dangers of vapes.

Alamanda College principal Lynette Jobson said kids at her Point Cook school were telling teachers: “I am not smoking, I’m vaping.” She said it was mostly an issue in high school but was “seeping down to primary school”.

“There are some risk-takers doing it at school,” she said.

“Some students from other areas are running a trade selling them to younger kids. Others get them from their parents, or share them with their parents, who think it’s safe.”

Deputy principal Michael Timms from Saint Ignatius College in Geelong said vapes were found in pencil cases and fell out of kids’ pockets in ­classrooms. He said the school had “looked at the possibility of installing CCTV cameras to detect vaping and film those coming in and out of bathrooms”.

Experts say single-use disposable vapes in bright colours which are cheap and easy to conceal are the greatest threat to young people.

House of Vape owner Michael Cameron said such devices “have 5 per cent nicotine, which is 50mg per disposable vape – the same as 2½ packs of cigarettes.”

“It’s fuelling nicotine addictions in children that wouldn’t ever be addicted to cigarettes,” Mr Cameron said. He said some dealers were now selling vapes instead of drugs, buying them for three or four dollars and selling them for $25.

Children are buying and selling vapes in schools after obtaining them online or from illegal retailers.

The Herald Sun has also obtained footage from video-sharing app TikTok of minors asking other users to suggest places that will sell them vapes without requiring an ID.

“Anyone know where I can (get) vapes in Melbourne under the age limit?” one user says. Kids are also dodging the app’s ban on vaping content by searching terms such as “vpe”, “v@pe” and “geek bars”.

Vaping products are also on sale in Melbourne on delivery service app DoorDash and other sites such as Facebook Marketplace.

Melton Local Area Commander Inspector Lisa Prentice-Evans said young people’s health and safety were the top priority in efforts to crack down on the dangerous trend.

“We’ve taken a proactive approach and are engaging with schools and parents to ... address this issue,” she said.

“We are currently working with local traders to ensure there is a clear understanding of relevant legislation, however we will take enforcement action if blatant and deliberate breaches of legislation are identified.”

The Education Department has thrown more resources into combating vaping in primary and secondary schools following an audit into its ­response to vaping last year.

“Smoking and vaping is banned at all campuses and within four metres of any entrance to all educational facilities in Victoria, including at schools,” a spokesman said.

Underage students are using social media such as TikTok to hunt down vapes for sale in Melbourne.

Underage students are finding sneaky ways to buy vapes.

PUNISHING VAPING KIDS ‘NO HELP’

Schools should help kids to quit e-cigarettes rather than just punish them for vaping, a leading health expert says.

Psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg said vaping was “easy to hide and a sign of independence and autonomy psychologically for teenagers who don’t give a toss about the health effects”.

He said a fresh approach was needed for governments and schools. “Instead of banning vaping, they need to base programs on helping kids to quit,” he said.

“The punitive program is not helping kids quit. Nicotine is very addictive – just saying ‘Give it up’ isn’t enough. Kids say it helps them relax and helps with their stress,” Dr Carr-Gregg said.

“They stop doing it and experience nicotine withdrawal so they get antsy so they take a drag and feel better.”

He said by year 8, vaping was “endemic”.

Most Victorian schools invoke disciplinary policies for children caught vaping repeatedly, with suspensions and expulsions the result.

Schools will often also try an educative or supportive approach involving parents. The penalty for breaking the Education Department’s smoking and vaping ban is a fine of between $165 and $826, the policy notes.

Schools are installing CCTV, locking bathrooms during class and searching bags and pockets to catch vapers.

QUIT Victoria director Sarah White said a 2021 study found 10 per cent of 14 to 17-year-olds were vaping at risky levels. “There are twice as many kids vaping as smoking,” Dr White said.