Vaping lessons loom
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A new national anti-vaping program is designed to tackle the issue early.
The Australian Government is launching a nationwide anti-vaping initiative targeting Year 7 and 8 students in over 3,000 schools, aiming to curb rising e-cigarette use among young Australians.
Set to roll out in 2025, the school-based OurFutures program responds to mounting concerns about teen vaping, with data suggesting that nearly 30 per cent of high school students have tried vaping and one in six has used an e-cigarette recently.
Minister for Health and Aged Care Mark Butler says vaping has become “the number one behavioural issue” in schools, noting that twelve-year-olds who vape are “29 times more likely to try smoking” than those who have not.
The initiative takes an evidence-based approach, developed by experts at the University of Sydney’s Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use.
Using harm minimisation strategies, the program hopes to educate students on the health risks, dispel vaping misconceptions, and equip them with skills to resist peer pressure and support friends dealing with addiction.
The government says trials with over 5,000 students in New South Wales, Queensland, and Western Australia have shown promising results.
Most participants reported feeling more prepared to handle vaping-related situations, with eight in ten students confident the program’s lessons would help them in the future.
Data from the trial also revealed a link between vaping and mental health issues among students, noting that those with high stress levels or severe depressive symptoms are more than twice as likely to vape.
Professor Nicola Newton, co-founder of the OurFutures Institute, psays the program “puts Australia at the forefront of vaping harm reduction worldwide”.
Schools are encouraged to register for the program, which will be supplemented with additional resources for students seeking help with vaping and mental health concerns.
