Ever Seen Kids Who Barely Look Fourteen Swapping Vapes Like They Are Trading Cards?
Cotton candy, gummy bears, unicorn shake and strawberry ice cream flavours sound like they belong at a kids’ birthday party, not a nicotine product. It is pretty clear that all those thousands of vape flavours aren’t really geared at ex-smokers trying to quit. All those flashy colours make them look like collectable toys—they are more about drawing in kids than helping adults quit a bad habit, no matter what they claim.
Did you know that 9% of 11-15-year-olds are using vapes? Let that sink in for a moment. Disposable vapes are more appealing to kids because they’re sleeker, cheaper, and way easier to get than the bulkier reusable ones. They’re literally everywhere you look.
Being a parent during this vaping epidemic is terrifying. Just check out the stats: vaping among 11-17-year-olds shot up nearly 9 times in just 2 years. It’s especially frightening since we still don’t know the long-term health effects.
As part of the government’s efforts to curb vaping among young people, they plan to ban disposable vapes by 2025, limit reusable vapes to just 4 flavours, crack down on the colourful marketing that attracts kids, hide vape displays, and slap fines on those illegally selling to minors.
But the real question is, will these moves actually cut down on kids vaping? Some think it’s a case of too little, too late. What we need is a rapid and thorough approach, focusing on education and reshaping the social norms around vaping. Waiting until 2025 is just too slow; there’s too much time for things to get worse before they improve.
On top of the trend of kids vaping, the environmental impact is just as troubling. Every week, we’re chucking out 5 million disposable vapes, 4 times more than just a couple of years back. And while they can be recycled, only 17% of vapers bother to do it. In 2023, we threw away over 40 tonnes of lithium disposable batteries – that’s enough power for 5,000 electric cars!
The sad truth is that black-market single-use vapes are probably going to succeed post-ban unless the government gets serious about changing how we see vaping.
How do you feel about it? Do you have kids? Are you concerned?
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