Kids hooked on vapes ‘should be given nicotine patches, not told off’, says report

KIDS addicted to vaping should be given nicotine gum and patches rather than punishment, health officials say.

A Public Health Wales (PHW) report on the rapid rise of youth vaping said “support should be prioritised over punishment”, while calling for sweet-flavoured disposable devices to be banned.

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It recommended that vaping be seen as a dependency issue, rather than an act of deliberate misconduct, with services rolled out to reflect that.

Youngsters who are particularly dependent to vapes should be given nicotine replacement therapies like chewing gum and patches.

“Whilst the vast majority of children and young people in Wales do not vape, there has been a substantial increase in vaping amongst children and young people in Wales in recent years, in particular since 2019,” PHW’s incident response group (IRG) found.

It noted that vaping among girls had shot up in the past few years and were “substantially higher than amongst boys”.

As part of the report, the IRG spoke to a number of school and college-age children who said they’d experienced cravings and withdrawals from e-ciggs.

“An increasing proportion of children and young people are vaping daily and reporting nicotine dependency,” according to the report, with daily use more common in older kids.

“An increasing number of children are experiencing dependency at a level that makes it very difficult to get through the school day without vaping on school premises.”

The report pinned the dramatic rise in vaping in Wales – particularly in kids who weren’t regular smokers or had never smoked – on the “rise in availability of disposable vapes”.

“These devices are marketed in ways that appeal to children and young people in terms of product design, flavouring of consumables, packaging, branding and point of sale display,” it explained.

How vaping is affecting kids’ health

“The most commonly raised concerns raised by professionals working with children and young people and raised by Group members was the increasing prevalence of nicotine dependence and the impact this was having on health, wellbeing and learning.

“Reports from staff of learners finding it difficult to complete a school day, or even a period of class time between breaks without vaping were consistently related to the Group by those members working within or representing educational settings.”

Focus group research targeting 11 to 24-year-olds secondary school and college – carried out by PHW’s research and evaluation team – also brought to light the physical and psychological impacts of vaping.

Participants reported several side effects from ‘everyday’ use of vapes, such as coughing, shortness of breath, sore throats.

In rare cases cases, more serious concerns were brought to light, such as the development of lung disease, also known as “popcorn lung”.

“Participants described uncertainty over the long-term health
effects of vaping,” the report stated.

Researchers also delved into symptoms of addiction and dependency experienced by youngsters surveyed.

“Several markers of high nicotine use and potential dependency were identified,” they wrote.

“Participants referred to a strong desire to vape after abstaining from use, including frequent ‘cravings’, ‘shaking’, appetite changes, and ‘niccy rush’ upon first re-use (i.e., stimulating effects of nicotine).

“This meant they would sometimes lose focus and find it difficult to complete other activities, potentially affecting their schoolwork and attendance in class.”

Focus groups highlighted how kids often turn to vape in order to “calm down”, “help with stress”, regulate “bad moods”, relieve “boredom”, and “give you something to do”.

“Though vaping was believed to help young people cope with difficult emotions, participants also discussed feeling uneasy, guilty, and agitated as a result of vaping,” researchers added.

Recommendations

The IRG made the following recommendations to crack down the the visibility and availability of vapes to kids:

• Denormalise vaping – Vaping should not be permitted in spaces that are intended primarily for children and young people
• Packaging and display – Restrict the advertising, packaging and the display of vapes
• Disposables – The sale and supply of disposable (single use) devices should be banned
• Flavours – Flavour names should be legally restricted to a specified list of basic descriptors such as tobacco, mint, menthol and fruit

The UK Government has already announced plans to ban disposable vapes in England by April 2025, with a new tax on vaping being implemented in October 2026.

Chris Emmerson, a public health consultant for PHW, said there is a “clear consensus” that the rise in youth vaping “must be addressed with urgency”.

He said: “By implementing these practices, we can better address the complex needs of children and young people struggling with vaping dependency.

“Nicotine replacement therapies, which are already offered to people aged over 12 who are smoking, is one tool that could help children and young people out of their dependency on vaping in tandem with other support mechanisms.”

It comes after parents were warned that vaping around their kids could expose them to dangerous chemicals that have been linked to cancer.

Meanwhile, a self-confessed “vaping addict” who picked up the habit in her teens fears she won’t live past the age of 40 after her lung collapsed twice.