Viperous Vapes

JUNE 2023

You have probably heard people complain about smoking bans because of the smell it gave pubs. No one likes a ponky pint. But it is a bit like complaining of the general demise of public entertainment as a result of the end of capital punishment. Some things are clearly worth putting up with; others stir a soup of moral complexity whose ingredients are more difficult to isolate, as the rise of the vape demonstrates.  

Teenage pregnancies are at a record low according to ONS statistics released in March 2023. They show the rate of conceptions by those under 18 was halved in the ten years leading up to 2021, an astonishing cultural change that will impact on the lives of thousands of young people. In the same space of time, the proportion of the adults smoking is at its lowest rate since records began ten years before. These two indicators reveal substantial and promising behavioural change that will profoundly benefit those directly affected and also allow better allocation of public resources that is in everyone's interests. The efforts that have gone into Personal Social and Health Education during that time may have played a part in these changes, though the strength of this effect is impossible to measure. Indeed - particularly in relation to smoking - it has been only one of a panoply of instruments to change behaviour and improve health outcomes. 

Alongside education programmes, public information campaigns and the legislation to deter smoking, one of the (probably) crucial ingredients that have weaned smokers away from cigarettes has been replacement strategies: patches, gum and e-cigarettes. As a holistic programme (information to guide individual decision making, regulation to reduce visibility of cigarettes, legislation to limit the spaces in which smoking is acceptable, and support to transition away from addiction) its success is unmistakable. Whatever the unintended consequences, it has been a remarkable social policy success resulting from widespread political consensus. 

Regrettably though (and on a slightly different level from the whiff of the wine bar) the proliferation and availability of vapes is probably the single most significant health issue schools are needing to deal with today. Yes these devices have lured people away from lighting up, but they have also drawn droves towards a different type of drag.

The problems are manifold. 

1. The smell of a vape is much less easy to detect, so culprits need not cover up with a gob of gum or a spritz of scent. 

2. There are few regulations on advertising or display, so where traditional cigarettes are hidden, vapes are ostentatiously out there in bright bold colours. 

3. Many flavours, blue bubblegum and candyfloss, seem explicitly to target young taste buds. 

4. The variety of sizes and shapes (some look like USB drives) means that some can hide in plain sight. 

5. There have been numerous disturbing reports about the harmful substances in so many unregulated vapes. 

6. Unlike the classic cigarette, there is no requirement to 'light up' so it is estimated that those who vape inhale more over a more sustained period of time. 

NHS figures from 2021 showed 9% of those aged 11-15 had used a vape, up from 6% in 2018. Anecdotal evidence suggests the issue has ballooned since these figures were released. The situation has placed considerable pressure on schools to educate, confiscate and stamp out a culture of vaping amongst its students. No doubt schools are being responsive to this demand and incorporating the necessary sanctions, lessons and monitoring systems so that the problem is tackled from every angle. But without a crackdown on the market supplying these items, the efforts of teachers will be hampered. Legislators, retailers, educationalists and healthcare professionals have achieved so much by reducing teenage pregnancy and smoking. We cannot let those achievements be eclipsed by this novel and worrying trend.