Campaign to Increase Understanding About Dangers of Vaping

Media release – Dr Mark Veitch, Director of Public Health – Department of Health; Ruth Davidson, Director Wellbeing and Inclusion – Department for Education, Children and Young People, 13 June 2023

Do you know what you are vaping? Increasing understanding about the dangers of vaping

The Department of Health (DoH) and Department for Education, Children and Young People (DECYP) are working together to raise awareness about the dangers of e-cigarettes and vaping, as well as how to find support to quit.

The Do you know what you’re vaping? initiative aims to increase knowledge about the harms of e-cigarettes and vaping in the wider community and help change the attitudes and behaviours of young Tasmanians regarding e-cigarettes and vaping.

With children as young as 12 years known to be vaping, the Do you know what you are vaping? initiative aims to highlight the dangerous substances that can be contained in vapes or e-cigarettes, and ultimately reduce the uptake of vaping and smoking by young people in Tasmania.

Resources include colourful posters, factsheets and social media posts depicting the harmful substances that can be contained in vapes.  The same harmful chemicals are also found in weed killer and nail polish remover.

The new initiative was initially developed by NSW Health and is now being rolled out across several jurisdictions in Australia.

Director of Public Health, Dr Mark Veitch said he hoped the new initiative would help educate young people about the hidden dangers associated with e-cigarettes and vaping, by highlighting some of the dangerous chemicals they can contain.

“Many young Tasmanians are taking up vaping because they think it is a safe alternative to smoking and that there’s no risk associated with them,” Dr Veitch said.

“That is clearly not the case as many contain nicotine, which is highly addictive, as well as a range of other chemicals and products that can be harmful to health.”

The Do you know what you’re vaping? online resources have been specially developed in consultation with young people, parents, clinicians, education partners and healthcare organisations.

These resources provide young people with the facts about vaping so they can make more informed decisions, by addressing the myths around vaping and increasing awareness about the dangers of e-cigarettes and the health impacts of vaping.

Students, families and teachers will be able to access information including fact sheets, and teaching resources and find information on how to get support to quit. This new initiative builds on the work DoH and DECYP have already undertaken through dedicated webpages on vaping and e-cigarettes providing up-to-date information and resources.

Director Wellbeing and Inclusion, Ruth Davidson said vaping and e-cigarette use by young people is an issue of great concern for families, teachers, and the wider community as it has a detrimental impact on wellbeing and learning.

“We are supporting young people, families and schools by providing clear information about the dangers of vaping and e-cigarettes and where young people and families can find support.

“We will be encouraging our schools to share the important messages of the Do you know what you’re vaping initiative with their communities. We have also provided all Tasmanian Government schools with information about DECYP’s dedicated vaping webpage which includes teaching resources to support learning about the dangers of vaping and e-cigarettes.”

To reinforce the message that vaping and e-cigarette use is harmful, new signage has been rolled out to remind Tasmanians that all public areas designated as smoke free must also be vape free – something that is commonly misunderstood.

School premises will also be encouraged to use the signage which is available at No smoking or vaping signs | Tasmanian Department of Health. Smoke free also means vape free.

The Federal Government has also launched a national crackdown on vaping, with Health Minister Mark Butler announcing that vapes would be heavily regulated and the importation of all e-cigarettes would be strictly controlled.