Becky Freeman: lead investigator on Australian vaping study on youth vaping rates declining

Australia may have turned a corner on youth vaping, according to new reports.

A new study has found the country's rates have fallen among 14 to 17-year-olds, from 17.5 percent at the start of 2023 to 14.6 percent this April. 

It's putting it down to banning disposable vapes last year. 

Lead study investigator Becky Freeman says the rate's still worryingly high - but it seems to have peaked.

"We're really pleased to see that our youngest teens are telling us that vaping is no longer the norm amongst their friends, they're not as curious about it as they were before." 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Australia reckons they've fixed vaping. A new study has found
the Aussies may have turned a corner after years of
rapid growth, with new research showing take up could have
peaked among teenagers and high school aged children. Becky Freeman
was the lead investigator of the study that looked into
the vaping trends and Australian she's with me now, Hi, Becky, Hi,
how are you going? Very well? Thank you? Does this

(00:22):
mean do these numbers mean you've turned a corner? You
passed peak vape for young people in Australia.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
Yeah, look, it's pretty good news compared to a few
years ago. Vaping rates are down amongst teenagers. Obviously, it's still,
you know, quite worrying from a public health point of
view that fifteen percent of teens are still vaping, But
it does seem like the peak rates are behind.

Speaker 1 (00:43):
Us, and the under fifteen year olds in particular have
dropped quite markedly.

Speaker 2 (00:48):
Yeah, that's true. We're really pleased to see that. You know,
our youngest teens are telling us that, you know, vaping
is no longer the norm amongst their friends. They're not
as curious about it as they were before, and that
you know those market messages that vaping was, you know,
harmless and fun and something you could do it on
weekends and parties. Those messages aren't getting through nearly as
strongly as they used to.

Speaker 1 (01:08):
So is it the coll factor or the lack of
a call factor, or is it the restrictions that have
been put in place.

Speaker 2 (01:16):
Look, and this is the thing with public health. You know,
people always ask, what's the one secret we can you know,
do here to make this all go away? And it's like, no,
we've got to do it all. It's the legislation, it's
the campaigns, it's the messaging, it's shutting down the advertising,
it's all those things working together. You have to do everything.

Speaker 1 (01:33):
In terms of the disposable vipes, are they quite the
trendy or what would they in vogue with young people?
Is getting rid of those key or even you know,
having an impact.

Speaker 2 (01:45):
Yeah, absolutely, it is the disposable vapes that were the problem.
Young people were not using the refillable devices and things
like this. It was the cheap disposable it's brightly colored,
full of flavors, and those are no longer allowed to
be sold at all, even in pharmacies in Australia, they're
completely bound.

Speaker 1 (02:01):
So what if you want to get your hands on
a vape, like as an adult in Australia, can you
just walk into a da area or a service station.

Speaker 2 (02:08):
No. No, you need to legally buy one. You need
to go to a pharmacy, and in some states you
require a prescription and in some seats you can just
buy them over the counter.

Speaker 1 (02:18):
Do you have lots more people smoking cigarettes in Australia
because of that?

Speaker 2 (02:22):
No, No, absolutely not. We have less than ten percent
of the population there smoking in Australia.

Speaker 1 (02:27):
All right, Becky, appreciate your time. Becky Freeman, professor of
public health behind the study. For more from Hither Duplessy
Alan Drive, listen live to news talks it'd be from
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