Vape use among teens dropping for the first time as government regulation stems access

Rates of vaping among young people have started to drop for the first time in signs tighter government regulation is turning the tide.

Latest figures from the Generation Vape study reveal 85 per cent of Australian teens aged 14-17 have never vaped, up from 82 per cent in 2023.

The proportion of young people who have never smoked is also at its highest too, at 94 per cent.

It’s a promising sign teens are turning away from nicotine products, with chief investigator of the study Professor Becky Freeman saying the “social acceptability of vaping over the past few years has shifted”.

“Young people tried vaping as it was marketed to them as fun, “safe” and full of great flavours, but increasingly young people report the realities of vaping addiction and harm to their wellbeing,” Professor Freeman said.

Access to vape products has also declined since the introduction of federal vape laws in July 2024 that aim to limit the sale of vapes to pharmacies only, regardless of nicotine content.

About one in four young people reported purchasing their own vape, down from roughly one in three before the laws came into play.

Tobacconist and vape shops remained a major source of vape sales with about one in three teens buying from such a retailer, highlighting ongoing difficulties with regulation and enforcement.

Chair of the Cancer Council’s tobacco issues committee Alecia Brooks said the latest figures were encouraging indicators that vaping laws are protecting young people, but that some retailers “continue to exploit young people”.

“Some tobacconists and vape shops are still blatantly selling illegal vapes to young people,” Ms Brooks said.

It comes as calls to WA’s poisons hotline from concerned parents worried their babies have been exposed to vapes have tripled just six months into the year.

Speaking on the matter in Budget Estimates earlier this month, Health Minister Meredith Hammat said the spike in calls reflected “a growing awareness in the community about the harmful nature of vapes”.

Since January 2024 the Therapeutic Goods Administration and Australian Border Force have seized more than 10 million illicit vapes with a street value of nearly half a billion dollars.

Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said “vaping rates for young Australians have now turned the corner”.

“Our education and prevention campaigns as well as support to deter people from taking up vaping and smoking or to quit are making a difference,” he said.