NSW Health has called on people all across the State to make 2023 the big year they quit smoking and vaping to give their overall health and quality of life a chance.
Chief Health Officer for NSW, Dr Kerry Chant congratulated those who have made the effort to stop smoking tobacco and cigarettes but said she was alarmed about the increasing number of people vaping.
Dr Chant said an alarming 16.5 per cent of young people aged 16-24 in NSW were current vape users, up from 4.5 per cent just two years ago.
“Smoking is a leading cause of disease and premature death in NSW, and while we’ve seen positive change with a decrease in daily tobacco smoking over the last 20 years, this decrease in smoking is starting to plateau,” Dr Chant said.
“We are really concerned about the high number of young people using vapes, and don’t want to see the years of strong progress reducing tobacco smoking undone.”
She said the negative health impacts of vaping on young people could not be understated.
Dr Chant said most vapes contained nicotine even when it wasn’t on the label, and young people needed to know that nicotine is highly addictive.
“Regular nicotine use can lead to changes to memory and mood – and can also increase stress and anxiety,” the Chief Health Officer said.
“There is also strong evidence that non-smokers who use vapes are three times as likely to go on to smoke tobacco than non-smokers who do not use vapes,” she said.
“Importantly, the long-term harms of vaping are still not known.”
Dr Chant said NSW Health had been undertaking a comprehensive program of work to address vape use by young people and welcomes the vaping product reforms recently announced by the Commonwealth Government to protect the community from the health harms associated with vaping.
The latest data on smoking and vaping in NSW can be accessed at this PS News link.
