The first phase of an action plan to tackle vaping among teenagers and school-aged students has been unveiled by the Ministers for Education and Training, Sue Ellery and Health, Amber-Jade Sanderson.
The Ministers said young people were being urged to know the facts and dangers of using e-cigarettes and vapes, which they say are often toxic and contain harmful substances found in cleaning products, weed killer, nail polish remover and bug spray.
The two Ministers say the action plan’s strategy is aimed at educating students, families and school staff on the significant health risks and impact of the devices.
According to Ms Ellery, vaping is a growing concern for Western Australian parents and school communities.
“E-cigarettes and vapes are designed to appeal to young people, coming in colourful packaging and a huge variety of flavours – from gummy bears and bubble gum, to fruits such as watermelon and peach,” Ms Ellery said,
“They are also easy to conceal”
She said there were many misconceptions around vaping that need to be addressed: “including that it produces harmless water vapour is non-addictive and doesn’t contain nicotine”.
“It’s important that schools play a part in educating students and families to dispel some of those misconceptions, and these new resources will provide additional guidance for teachers about what they can do to highlight the harmful impacts,” she said.
Ms Sanderson said that some of the hazardous substances found in e-cigarette liquids and the aerosol mist produced by e-cigarettes are known to cause damage to human cells and DNA, and can cause cancer.
“In Australia, it is illegal to sell, supply or possess nicotine vaping products such as e-cigarettes or e-liquids that contain nicotine, without a doctor’s prescription,” Ms Sanderson said.
“In WA, it remains illegal for tobacco or general retailers to sell e-cigarette devices, whether they contain nicotine or not,” she said.
She said the Department of Health was developing a new digital campaign to highlight the dangers of vaping, which will target teenagers and young people, as the second phase of the strategy.
“As with smoking in past generations, we may not see the full impacts of vaping for another decade or more, so it is important that we act now,” Ms Ellery said.
