Give vape-addicted kids nicotine patches – report

Vape-addicted children should be offered nicotine patches to help wean them off, say health officials.

A Public Health Wales (PHW) report also urged a ban on disposable vapes and names like bubblegum or watermelon.

PHW’s incident response group (IRG) final report said vaping should be seen as a dependency issue, rather than pupil misconduct.

However, the UK Vaping Industry Association has said banning vapes will “turbo-charge the black market”.

The IRG has been investigating the rapid rise in vaping among children and young people in Wales.

As part of the report, the group spoke to a number of young people who said they experienced cravings, shaking and appetite changes when they tried to quit vapes.

Chris Emmerson, a PHW consultant, said it was essential the rise in youth vaping must be “addressed with urgency”.

“Nicotine replacement therapies, which are already offered to people aged over 12 who are smoking, is one tool that could help… in tandem with other support mechanisms,” he said.

Michael Lindon, 30, said he does not think offering nicotine patches to help young people with a nicotine dependency is the best way forward.

“I went to a school in the valleys and if you have a patch on you’d just get ridiculed. I think the best option would be the non-nicotine vapes,” he said.

“One way or another, it’s the same with smoking, when I was younger, kids weren’t allowed to do it, but they still find a way.”

Curtis Watson, 23, said: “I vape about, all day, every day. It’s quite bad. I feel like once you start, you don’t stop then.

“Because of the colourful packages and the flavours, even if I was younger, I think I would have bought them.”

Mollie Jones, 22, said seeing her friends using vapes prompted her to start, and now she was addicted.

“I think [vapes] are aimed at younger people and 18-year-olds because I wouldn’t go for, like, skittles flavour, I’d go for something more normal.

“The generation before us smoked cigarettes, we just smoke vapes, so what’s the difference?”

It has been illegal in the UK to sell vapes to under 18 since 2015, although both the UK and Welsh governments have said they plan to bring in further legislation to reduce the appeal and availability of vapes.

The IRG has made the following recommendations.

“By implementing these practices, we can better address the complex needs of children and young people struggling with vaping dependency,” added Mr Emmerson.

The report said the vast majority of children and young people in Wales did not vape, but there had been a substantial increase in numbers, particularly among girls.

Many felt peer pressure and a strong desire to “fit in” and “look cool”, the group concluded, with an increasing number unable to get through the school day without vaping.

Many of the young people questioned as part of the report were aware of “vape dealers” within their social circles.

The report highlighted that calculating the amount of illegal and unregulated vapes in circulation was difficult. However, in 2022-23 trading standards officials seized more than 257,000 in Wales alone.

These illegal vapes are seen as more dangerous as they can have higher concentrations of nicotine or overheat and cause fires.

However, the report also suggested higher taxation on disposable vapes as an alternative to a ban, while keeping them cheaper than tobacco to encourage smokers to take up vapes instead.

Robert Sidebottom, of the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA), said it acknowledged that “youth vaping is an issue that needs to be tackled head on”.

“However… it is already illegal to sell vapes to children, so rather than introducing restrictions that will undermine the public health benefits of vaping for adult smokers, we need to focus on the law we already have,” he said.

“Public Health Wales is calling for a ban on disposable vapes, which will only serve to push the market underground, turbo-charging an already highly active black market.”

He said restricting vapes like cigarettes would mean fewer smokers “will quit and more will die. It’s not a complicated equation.”

Action on Smoking and Health Wales head Suzanne Cass welcomed the IRG report, and said it “firmly outlines the case for urgent action”.

“The unacceptable marketing of vapes to children and the availability of these products has led to a surge in experimentation and an increase in regular use,” she said. “Recommendations in this report strike the balance between promoting actions to reduce the appeal of vapes to young people whilst not preventing access to vapes as a smoking cessation tool for smokers.”

A spokesperson for the Welsh government said they “welcomed the investigation” and would consider the recommendations carefully.

They added: “We are working with the other UK governments to tackle youth vaping by reducing the appeal and availability of vapes to children through the UK Tobacco and Vapes Bill.”