Social media platforms have policies prohibiting the promotion of tobacco products, including vaping. But these policies are routinely violated, with little or no consequences.
The industry and its allies have been so effective at publicising this unscientific guesstimate, it continues to be used to undermine Australia’s public health policy.
We work as part of a team researching drug education. Schools tell us there are rising expulsions due to vaping. We have also heard of students being home schooled so they can continue to vape.
E-cigarettes may be a useful tool to help people quit smoking, but emerging evidence shows how important it is to make this only the first step in giving up altogether.
It’s often said if cigarettes were invented tomorrow, and we knew now what we didn’t know then, they would be banned outright. But vaping is showing us we’re repeating the same mistakes.
In the 1980s and 90s, legal action and awareness helped shift attitudes to tobacco smoking. We have laws against vaping in smoke-free places but the attitude shift is lagging.
The vaping craze sweeping the globe is leaving a legacy of contaiminated e-waste in landfill while waste management authorities scramble to set up recycling schemes.
How providing information on the health risks of vaping through expert advice and personal testimonies can help steer students away from using e-cigarettes.
Big Tobacco’s efforts to rehabilitate its image should not go unchallenged because the tobacco industry’s goal remains advancing corporate profit at the expense of public health.