28 November 2023
From January, Australia will ban importing disposable, single use vapes in an attempt to prevent more children becoming addicted to nicotine. According to CDU Senior Psychology Lecturer Dr Kim Caudwell the ban on a whole seems a positive step.
Dr Kim Caudwell, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Faculty of Health, Charles Darwin University
Contact details: +61 8 8946 6529 or email us at media@cdu.edu.au to arrange an interview.
The following quotes can be attributed to Charles Darwin University’s Faculty of Health Dr Kim Caudwell:
“We are learning a lot more about harms from vaping, and the nature of these single-use vapes has an environmental impact as well. So, on the whole, the ban seems a positive step.”
“A lot of the media and government focus in this space is on uptake by children. We have had a great, sustained public health campaign to get the smoking uptake and prevalence rates down, so it would be a shame to see a resurgence in uptake and prevalence, caused in part by vaping.”
“More research is needed on how we can better keep a lid on vaping and help those who are looking to cut down or quit vaping – especially kids who may already be addicted.”
“Kids will pick up on all sorts of trends, especially in the modern social media environment - the concern here is they’re being exposed to a potentially addictive, harmful substance, without much in the way of targeted public health campaigns to counter that exposure.”
“Although ad campaigns build general awareness of harms, there is no ‘silver bullet’, and we currently don’t know enough about why people might stop or reduce their vaping to inform more effective campaigns.”
“Our research within the Faculty of Health at CDU is looking at how adult vapers view the risks and the benefits of quitting or reducing their vaping, and whether this might help inform more effective awareness campaigns or targeted interventions.”
“For some vapers, vaping is or has been an effective tool to support reducing or eliminating tobacco use. For others, vaping is a dangerous ‘gateway’ to conventional tobacco smoking for people who would have otherwise never smoked tobacco and are likely becoming addicted to nicotine.”
“So, you can understand how at the population level, increased vaping and a resurgence of tobacco use will impact population health in the future.”
“Ultimately, we see different drivers of uptake, continued use, and cessation, but there are some commonalities with tobacco and a large evidence base to draw from to see what might hold in the vaping space.”
Contact details:
Emily Bostock
Acting Research Communications Officer
T: +61 8 8946 6529
M: 0432 417 518
E: media@cdu.edu.au
