Vaping concerns grow at NT schools with rates on the rise

A Darwin store has been caught selling vape products illegally, as concern grows for the trend being taken up by young Territorians.

Health authorities are cracking down on stores illegally selling vapes, as concerns grow for young children becoming addicted.

A raid on a single Darwin business found thousands of vaping products being sold with nicotine.

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It is currently illegal to sell and buy e-cigarettes contacting nicotine unless you have a prescription.

“NT Health has seized thousands of nicotine vaping products from a single business in Darwin as part of routine compliance inspections,” an NT Health spokeswoman said.

“This is the first seizure of illegal NVPs by NT Health in the Northern Territory.”

According to the Medicines, Poisons and Thereapeutic Goods Act 2012 the maximum punishment for supplying a Schedule 4 substance without a prescription is 200 penalty units or imprisonment of two years.

CONCERNS OF VAPING IMPACT LAID BARE

AN INCREASE in vaping among school-aged children in the NT is igniting concern from health experts.

And public sentiment across the Territory is largely against the smoking trend.

The latest data available shows that 2.2 per cent of the Northern Territory population currently use e-cigarettes, according to a 2019 survey.

The survey only includes responses from people aged 14 and older.

Concern has been growing particularly in the Darwin school community, with one catholic school issuing two memos in the hopes of educating students and parents.

St John’s Catholic College in Darwin first issued a letter to parents in September 2021 and again this July, after they were made aware of students “engaging with vaping”.

“The College takes the issue of vaping very seriously and has adopted a two-pronged approach to dealing with this issue, health awareness and firm consequences,” the letter read.

“To be clear, the College’s aim is to work in partnership with parents and guardians to inform students of the dangers of vaping and the impacts on health.”

A spokeswoman for the Department of Education said students are not allowed to use e-cigarettes on any schools across the Territory.

“The Department of Education has a Smoke Free Premises policy that outlines that smoking and vaping is not permitted in or on any Department of Education premises.

“As such, students are not permitted to smoke or vape at Northern Territory Government schools,” she said.

“Drug education including smoking and vaping is covered in the Australian Curriculum.”

DANGERS OF E-CIGARETTES LAID BARE

Head of Quit Dr Sarah White said the dangers of children using vapes has the power to “undo decades of tobacco control success.”

“We’re risking a whole generation of kids starting to be addicted to nicotine, inhaling chemicals and particles and heavy metals into their lungs,” she said.

In October 2021 the first vaping-related death was reported in a 71-year-old Queensland man.

She said the accessibility and lack of clear labelling on e-cigarettes are a real danger in kids getting addicted to smoking.

“More than 60 per cent of e-cigarettes are not labelled as containing nicotine but actually do.

“Evidence that's available suggests that nicotine affects the developing adolescent brain

and it affects things like memory and hyperactivity and behavioural impulses so it can really be quite devastating for kids,” she said.

Anecdotal evidence from around Australia suggests that children as young as 10 have engaged in the use of e-cigarettes.

“Particularly in NSW and Victoria we’ve got a lot of schools contacting Quitline and a lot of teachers reporting to parents and the education department that they’re confiscating devices,” Dr White said.

“We’ve got bathrooms locked during recess breaks because there’s people congregating in the toilets to vape.”

“It’s certainly quite a trendy thing to do and a lot of kids don’t understand that these things aren’t harmless.”

E-cigarette use is currently regulated under the NT Government’s Tobacco Control Act 2002, which was amended in 2019.

This means vaping is prohibited wherever smoking is, such as in public spaces and workplaces.

“There’s some really good reasons for that — that cloud you inhale is not just steam with flavouring in it,” Dr White said.

“It can trigger asthma attacks, it can trigger nausea, there’s an immunity issue as well for people who are pregnant or going through chemotherapy.”

Dr White said more education is required around the rules for where vaping is allowed.

“There’s a low level of understanding about it,” she said.

The same restrictions apply to the sale and consumption of e-cigarettes as do to tobacco.

TERRITORIANS VIEWS ON VAPING REVEALED

Cancer Council research has revealed community attitudes and beliefs around the use of e-cigarettes.

The national study included a small sample size of Territorians.

The data showed 70% of residents in the NT believed that vaping should not be allowed on public transport, in pubs, restaurants, or other indoor venues and 51% of NT residents believed that e-cigarettes should be regulated to stop a new generation of Australians from becoming addicted

The survey also revealed that 83 per cent of Australians supported action to regulate and enforce e-cigarettes.

When it came to advertising and marketing, 45 per cent of Territorians thought promoting vaping products through social media should not be allowed, while 37 per cent thought advertising around shops was also wrong.