Smoking rates among young people set to soar as they turn to illegal vapes, later get hooked on cigarettes

Smoking rates among young people are expected to soar this year as they turn to illegal vapes for recreational purposes, only to later get hooked on cigarettes, a leading health researcher says.

While smoking rates differ widely between rich, big city postcodes and regional areas, vaping rates are in the single digits regardless of where people live, updated Australian Bureau of Statistics figures revealed this week.

Unlike cigarettes, which incur a $1.53 tax per stick, vapes don’t incur excise because they can now only be legally sold at pharmacies as an aid to quit smoking.

Legal vapes are only available in tobacco or mint flavours while illicit vapes come in 9000 different flavours, from gummy bear to raspberry cordial.

Young adults under 25 are the biggest users of these illegal, flavoured vapes, which explains their uniform use across regions and wealth demographics, University of Sydney public health researcher Becky Freeman told The Nightly.

“Vaping is sort of the new frontier and it has been incredibly well marketed on social media as well,” she said.

“They are used by young people who have never smoked, that youth market is more evenly spread.”

As State governments increasingly crack down on illegal vapes at convenience stores, many of these young users are expected to switch to cigarettes in greater numbers this year.

“They were the first group of teenagers to take up vaping and if you vape, you are five times more likely to go on to smoke,” Professor Freeman said.

“I am really concerned we are going to see an increase in smoking rates in young adults in particular.

“The absolute explosion in illicit tobacco has undermined the price of cigarettes and young people are the most price sensitive.”

The author of the Generation Vape study noted vaping was rarely cited as a tool to quit smoking after a University of New South Wales study showed a link between nicotine-based vapes and lung and oral cancers.

City Beach in Perth’s west had Australia’s lowest smoking rate of 2.6 per cent and a similarly low vaping rate of 2.2 per cent, the ABS data showed.

The wealthiest postcodes had even lower smoking and vaping rates than the rich postcodes of Sydney and Melbourne.

Turramurra on Sydney’s upper north shore had a low smoking rate of 3.1 per cent, which was identical to the proportion of residents who vaped.

Toorak in Melbourne’s wealthy inner east also had a low smoking rate, of 4.6 per cent, and a relatively low vaping rate of 2.9 per cent.

When it came to poorer or more remote regional areas vaping rates were also low in areas with much higher-than-average smoking rates.

South Hedland in WA’s far north Pilbara region had a smoking rate of 28.9 per cent but a vaping rate of 6.2 per cent.

Port Augusta north of Adelaide had a particularly high smoking rate of 31.6 per cent but a low vaping rate of 4.4 per cent.

The story was similar in Palmerston, east of Darwin, with Moulden having a 31.8 per cent smoking rate and a 5.3 per cent vaping rate.

The ABS this week released 2022 data on smoking and vaping by geographical areas.

The figures pre-dated the 2024 ban on non-therapeutic vapes.

Those taking up vaping initially wanted to be different to the older generation of smokers, only to embrace their dirty habit.

“When you ask young people why they vape, one: curiosity; two: social reasons, the flavours are appealing, that it seems like it’s something for young people, it’s not your grandfather’s disgusting, stinky cigarette,” Professor Freeman said.

“Most people aren’t using them to quit smoking.”