Reducing vaping and youth nicotine addiction

It’s a burning question for parents and public health officials alike: How do we keep a new generation from getting addicted to nicotine, especially amid the proliferation of emerging tobacco products such as vapes? Despite decades of progress in reducing the use of smoking, the appeal of tobacco products persists among the young generation.

It is a known strategy by tobacco companies to target young people as future smokers. They are also doing this with vapes now, through youth advertising, social media content, price discounts, and enticing product designs that resemble sleek gadgets.

Every day, a significant part of the youth population are smoking or vaping. Smokers who have died of smoking-related diseases, including lung cancer, heart disease, and various respiratory illnesses, have reported to have started when they were just teenagers or young adults.

Just recently, the Department of Health announced the first death related to vaping, that of a 22-year-old athlete who had no pre-existing illnesses or conditions but had been vaping daily in the last two years of his life.

The Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) conducted in 2019 revealed that 1 in every 7 Filipino students aged 13 to 15 years is already using e-cigarettes. They also reported how easy it is to access tobacco products in the Philippines.

Many smokers begin their habit during adolescence or young adulthood. Studies have shown that if individuals do not take up addictive habits by the time the decision-making part of their brains have matured, they almost certainly will never start.

This shows that it is extremely important to have early intervention to prevent tobacco and vape use and parents will play a pivotal role in steering their children away from tobacco use.

Parental influence remains powerful. Begin conversations about smoking and vaping early, even when your kids are just in kindergarten. Keep these discussions open and ongoing as children grow older. Talk about the pressure your kids are experiencing in their environment and equip them with the information and strategies to refuse habit-forming products like cigarettes and vapes.

If you yourself smoke or vape, quitting is the best way to set a positive example. At the very least, avoid smoking around your children. Enforce a no-smoking policy at home and in the car. Ensure that places your child frequents are no-smoking zones. If your child has started smoking or vaping, approach the issue with understanding and offer support to help them quit.

But the issue should not stop at home. There should also be public education campaigns to help teens understand how tobacco companies exploit them. These campaigns are more effective when integrated in school-based and family-based programs.

There should also be accessible and affordable smoking cessation programs that can support young smokers in quitting and encourage healthier behaviors among parents and caregivers.

At the local government level, cities like Baguio in the Philippines have implemented stringent anti-smoking policies, setting an example for effective tobacco control for other cities and municipalities.

Baguio’s smoke-free ordinance, which includes restrictions on vaping products, demonstrates the potential for local action to protect public health.

At the national level, sadly, commercial interests are sometimes prioritized over public health. The country faces a rising use of vapes among youth, and this is worsened by deceitful marketing and insufficient regulation.

But the government’s response?

The passage of Republic Act 11900 or the controversial Vape Law, which lowered the age of access to vapes from 21 to 18, lifted the ban on flavors, and transferred regulatory power from the Department of Health to the Department of Trade and Industry, which essentially eases restrictions and treats vapes as regular consumer products.

The price to pay? A possible health crisis for a nation already grappling with a youth vaping epidemic.

So what can we do?

We can demand policy change. We can bring back the health and child protection safeguards removed by the Vape Law, including return of the regulation of vapes to the Department of Health.

We can raise the price of tobacco products, including vapes, so teenagers won’t be able to afford them.

There should be regulatory initiatives that ban youth-focused marketing efforts and make sure that the packaging of smoking products do not appeal to children and young people. There should be a strict implementation of restrictions in advertising and promotion near schools and parks.

It is also crucial for our government to prioritize public health over commercial interests to ensure a healthier future for our youth.

As seen in the Philippines, tobacco-free policies, enforcement, and education are essential in fighting the vaping epidemic and safeguarding the well-being of children and young people. Preventing the youth from starting to smoke or vape requires a multifaceted approach involving parents, educators, policymakers, and public health officials.

By advocating for stronger and more innovative policies, we can make significant progress in preventing a generation from falling into the trap of nicotine addiction and use of emerging nicotine products.  Jia Sentorias, Philippine Smoke-Free Movement (PSFM) Youth & Young Leaders Program for Tobacco Control

About the Author

Jia Sentorias is a 3rd year college student from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines. She is an active member of the Philippine Smoke-Free Movement-Youth and the Young Leaders Program for Tobacco Control of the Child Rights Network.