Robert Beaglehole: Action on Smoking and Health Chair says youth's don't find vaping 'cool' anymore

An anti-smoking group says young people don't think vaping is as cool as it used to be. 

Action on Smoking and Health has released the results of its survey which asks more than 30-thousand Year 10 students about their smoking habits. 

It shows 7.1-percent of the age group vape daily - down from the 10-percent peak in 2022 - and less than a third have ever tried it. 

ASH Chair Robert Beaglehole says Government policy has played a big role in the change. 

He says it took some time for the regulation to catch up with the issue - but it is clearly working now. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good news on vaping. Big study thirty year ten students.
Daily vaping's gone from eight point seven to seven point
one percent. Regular vaping fell from fourteen percent down to
eleven which is almost half since its peak by the way,
in twenty twenty one. So it seems all good news.
Robert beagle Hole is the ash chair and is with us.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
Good morning, Good morning to you mine.

Speaker 1 (00:17):
With these numbers, do you reckon the tide has turned?

Speaker 2 (00:20):
I think this is a very good news story, Mike,
and the tide is turning. Definitely, use smoking one percent
and precedent lowest in the world. We are raising a
smoke free generation. Use vaping on the way down. Good
news story. We're getting on top of it.

Speaker 1 (00:38):
On vaping, can you separate the groups out, in other words,
the young experiment to who may or may not carry
on with it, versus the cessation crowd who use it
for something completely different.

Speaker 2 (00:48):
Yeah. Well, the seven percent is the daily vapors. These
are the people who clearly have some dependence too high,
and we need to do more. There are Another group
of experiment is about four percent. So overall were about
eleven percent to vape at least once a month. But
the less regular, the less the non dailies. They are

(01:11):
declining dramatically as well.

Speaker 1 (01:13):
What are you reckons leading to them? They try it
that I like it.

Speaker 2 (01:18):
I think there are a lot of couple of things.
I think the regulations that have slowly come into place
are having an effect. Mine. Before we put the regulations
in place, before the laws were passed, vaping took off.
We were slow to act. Now they've come into place,
both from the last government and increasingly from this government.
I think we're getting on top of it. I'm also

(01:39):
told I don't know how to verify this, that vaping
is becoming less cool amongst some groups.

Speaker 1 (01:45):
Do you think that's a long term thing. Do you
think eventually will be for all intentsive purposes smoke free.

Speaker 2 (01:52):
I think will be smoke free for sure, and the
youth will also not be vaping nicotine products. On to
a winner. We're leading the world, there's no question, all right.

Speaker 1 (02:03):
Robert, appreciate it. Robert Bagel Hole out of ash. For
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