New Zealand Youth19 survey: vaping has wider appeal than smoking in secondary school students, and most use nicotine‐containing e‐cigarettes

Abstract

Objective: To investigate smoking and vaping in secondary school students (aged 13-18 years) in New Zealand (NZ) following the introduction of 'pod' e-cigarettes, which have been associated with the rapid escalation of youth vaping elsewhere.Methods: Data on smoking and vaping were collected in 2019 as part of a comprehensive youth health survey (N=7,721). Results:Vaping was 2-3 times more prevalent than smoking, with 10% of students vaping regularly (monthly or more often), and 6% weekly or more often, compared with 4% and 2%, respectively, for tobacco smoking. Nicotine-containing e-cigarettes were sometimes or always used by 80% of regular and 90% of weekly vapers. Regular and weekly smoking was rare in low deprivation (affluent) areas, whereas regular and weekly vaping prevalence was similar across the socioeconomic spectrum. More than 80% of ever-vapers (N=2732) reported they were nonsmokers when they first vaped, and 49% of regular vapers (N=718) had never smoked.Conclusions: A significant proportion of New Zealand adolescents, many of whom have never smoked, use nicotine-containing e-cigarettes regularly. Implications for public health:Vaping is less harmful than smoking, but it is not harmless. Public health action is needed to support young non-smokers to remain smokefree and vapefree.

E‐cigarette use and the relationship to smoking among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non‐Indigenous Australian Secondary Students, 2017

“…3,[20][21][22] This is not universal though, with smoking increasing among some youth population subgroups. 21 From 1 October 2021 Australians require a prescription to legally access nicotine containing e-cigarettes. 1 While prior to this, legislation at a state level regarding the sale and regulation of e-cigarettes varied somewhat, all prohibited sales to minors (under 18 years).…”

Describing and characterising on‐demand delivery of unhealthy commodities in New Zealand

“…Although a previous study in Australia has shown that not wanting to drive while intoxicated is a reason for using on‐demand services, 16 there is also evidence that needing to drive is a reason for choosing not to drink or drinking less; 34 the harms associated with both driving while intoxicated and increased individual consumption need to be considered collectively. Furthermore, although the harm‐reduction potential of e‐cigarettes is recognised, there are also concerns around health protection, from the – as yet – unclear impacts of increased e‐cigarette use, 35 particularly given the relative ease of access for young people 36 and emerging evidence of increasing uptake of e‐cigarette use those who have never smoked cigarettes 37 . In conclusion, the net public health benefits or costs of on‐demand access requires more careful scrutiny.…”

“…Furthermore, although the harm-reduction potential of e-cigarettes is recognised, there are also concerns around health protection, from the -as yet -unclear impacts of increased e-cigarette use, 35 particularly given the relative ease of access for young people 36 and emerging evidence of increasing uptake of e-cigarette use those who have never smoked cigarettes. 37 In conclusion, the net public health benefits or costs of on-demand access requires more careful scrutiny. Future research evaluating the positive and negative public health impacts of these services would be of substantial benefit.…”

Groundbreaking anti-smoking laws advance in Malaysia and New Zealand

“…While the US government has announced plans to drastically cut nicotine in cigarettes, New Zealand will be the first country to actually do so. One issue not addressed by the New Zealand law is vaping, which has largely replaced smoking among school age New Zealanders 2…”