Not so long ago, having your first cigarette was a rite of passage, like a first drink or a first kiss.
Smoking a cigarette stolen from a parental pack was something kids did in secret, behind the bike shed, down at the footy oval. It was a form of play, pretending to be a grown-up.
Now that first puff is more likely to come from a vape inhaler as tobacco companies pivot to survive.
Hailed by some as a safer alternative to smoking, there are growing concerns vaping is creating a new generation of nicotine addicts, some of whom will end up as tobacco users.
Vaping fluid, turned into an inhalable vapour by a heating element in an e-cigarette, is widely available in retail stores and online.
While fluid containing nicotine is only legally available in Australia with a prescription, vapers will tell you it's not hard to get.
Many vaping fluids sold over the counter labelled as non-nicotine, do in fact contain nicotine.
Professor Simon Chapman, who has been at the forefront of public health efforts against tobacco smoking since the 1980s, spoke to The Context this week and said it took decades for the deadly effects of tobacco smoke to become clear, and it may be the same with vaping.
"Some of my biggest concerns are with flavourants," Chapman says.
"The average vaper who vapes daily takes about five to six hundred puffs and we really have no idea what the long-term consequences of that are going to be."
Professor Chapman says time is running out to prevent a repeat of the past. He and others want to see all vaping fluid made prescription-only and importation heavily restricted.
"We need to be very, very cautious. We need to err on the side of strong regulation."
Nicola Roxon, who now chairs VicHealth, Victoria's Health Promotion Foundation, is similarly dubious about the tobacco industry's motives in promoting vaping.
"I don't think the industry has earned the right to be trusted, which is kind of their argument on vaping 'look trust us, it's not as bad as tobacco, at least it will help some people quit' when the early signs are it's actually being used as an entry product back into smoking."
Researchers at the ANU came to a similar conclusion, stating: "There is strong evidence that non-smokers who use e-cigarettes are three times as likely to go on to smoke combustible tobacco."
Other studies suggest around 10 per cent of 14 to 17-year-olds are now vaping, a higher proportion than regularly smoke.
Currently around 12 per cent of men and 8 per cent of women smoke around half of what it was at the turn of the century.
Yet smoking rates in the Indigenous population are three times that.
A quarter of adult Australians used to smoke but have quit, while more than 60 per cent of us have never smoked. Of those who do, 70 per cent say they want to quit.
People experiencing problems with their mental health are much more likely to be smokers. More than 30 per cent of those with social phobias, more than half of people with general anxietyand two-thirds of people experiencing some form of psychotic disorder smoke.
Where you live can also be an indicator of whether you're still likely to smoke.
People living in remote areas smoke at a rate of around 20 per cent. It's 13 per cent in the regions and around 10 per cent in our cities.
People in the lowest-income areas are almost four times more likely to smoke than those in the richest areas.
The highest smoking rates are now among people in their fifties, followed by the forty-somethings.
Fewer than 5 per cent of people aged over 70 smoke, in part simply because many older male smokers have died.
People in their twenties were the biggest smokers 20 years ago that's fallen from 31 per cent to 13 per cent today.
There was a time when smoking was everywhere.
Ornate ashtrays adorned every coffee table, dining table, even the bedside table.
You could smoke on trains, on planes, in taxis, in pubs, clubs and the finest restaurants.
On TV and in the movies, everyone seemed to smoke almost non-stop.
A cigarette draped from Humphrey Bogart's lip was a sign of both toughness and nonchalance;in James Dean's hand it was rebellious, even dangerous;in Audrey Hepburn's long holder, it spoke of elegance.
For a bunch of burning leaves rolled in a piece of paper, a cigarette sure had acting range.
At the end of World War II in 1945, 72 per cent of Australian men and 26 per cent of women smoked.
Servicemen were given free cigarettes with their rations.
A smoking soldier was, by definition, at ease, relaxing between battles or after victory had been won.
You couldn't see people smoke on the radio, but the ads told they were rich, mild, tasty and smooth on the throat.
That was our first clue.
Until smoking became commonplace in the first decades of the 20th century, lung and throat cancers were comparatively rare.
Doctors started noticing more and more cases until by the 1950s it was impossible to ignore.
In 1957, Humphrey Bogart died from smoking-related cancer of the oesophagus.
In 1964, the US Surgeon General announced cigarette smoking was "causally related to lung cancer", and a few months later singer Nat King Cole died from the disease at the age of just 45.
Female smoking rates peaked at 33 per cent in the mid-1970s, after tobacco companies targeted the economically empowered women's movement to make up for lost male smokers.
Faced with overwhelming evidence, and a growing burden on health budgets, the 1970s saw a phased ban on tobacco advertising on Australian television and radio.
It took much longer to remove cigarette ads from billboards, newspapers and magazines.
Loading
Tobacco companies still bought their way onto TV screens through sporting sponsorships into the 2000s, until finally a decade ago when their brands were effectively taken from them in Australia with world-first generic packaging.
That reform was championed by then-federal health minister Nicola Roxon, who told The Context it was aimed at stopping younger people from wanting to start smoking in the first place.
"The way that tobacco is appealing, the way that packets looked, making them uglier, making it embarrassing for people to have them on the table at the pub."
Smoking was no longer associated with glamour:the drab packs now linked it to phlegm and gangrene.
Government-mandated increases in tobacco taxes had an impact too.
Back in 1980, a pack of cigarettes cost $1.10 (adjusted for inflation, that's around $5) compared with close to $50 for a pack today.
Price, along with health concerns, is the major reason people say they've quit.
So, all-in-all we have come a long way, although because death from smoking-related illness often involves a time lag of many years, we are still seeing in excess of 20,000 deaths from smoking-related disease each year.
The Context with John Barron puts news and major issues into historical, international and factual context. The new show airs on the ABC on Friday nights at 8PM AEST.
Posted9 Jun 20229 Jun 2022Thu 9 Jun 2022 at 8:03pm, updated9 Jun 20229 Jun 2022Thu 9 Jun 2022 at 8:13pm
Continue reading here:
Is vaping a safer alternative to smoking? We just don't know yet - ABC News
- Mom was addicted to vaping until habit caused lung damage - New York Post - May 15th, 2024 [May 15th, 2024]
- Mom, 30, left with lungs of an 80-year-old after vaping 'fried her lungs like chicken wings' - Daily Mail - May 15th, 2024 [May 15th, 2024]
- Auburn City Schools combat student vaping with innovative technology - WRBL - May 15th, 2024 [May 15th, 2024]
- Drop your vape and pick up yourself - Advance Titan - May 15th, 2024 [May 15th, 2024]
- Costa Rica Bans Synthetic Nicotine in Vaping Products : - The Tico Times - May 15th, 2024 [May 15th, 2024]
- Alarming Rise of Electronic Vaping Use in U.S. Adolescents - Florida Hospital News and Healthcare Report - South Florida Hospital News - May 15th, 2024 [May 15th, 2024]
- The important conversation: Nebraska students reveal how to talk - News Channel Nebraska - May 15th, 2024 [May 15th, 2024]
- ANOTHER VIEWPOINT: Vaping punishment counterproductive | Opinion | thefacts.com - Brazosport Facts - May 15th, 2024 [May 15th, 2024]
- Vaping Rates Fall Among Teens, But Still Too High - Griffin Daily News - May 15th, 2024 [May 15th, 2024]
- Ireland is getting stricter on cigarettes. But is vaping a more urgent problem? - The Irish Times - May 15th, 2024 [May 15th, 2024]
- The Takeaways Tobacco Reporter - Tobacco Reporter - May 15th, 2024 [May 15th, 2024]
- Lung Health Foundation and Ontario Ministry of Education Partner to Launch First Judgement-Free Initiative to "Quash ... - Canada NewsWire - May 15th, 2024 [May 15th, 2024]
- Mum, 30, heard popping as she breathed after vaping addiction fried her lungs like hot chicken... - The Sun - May 15th, 2024 [May 15th, 2024]
- Vaping and how to stop another chemical generation - Newsroom - May 15th, 2024 [May 15th, 2024]
- Vaping Rates Fall Among Teens, But Still Too High - Shelbynews - May 15th, 2024 [May 15th, 2024]
- Vaping Rates Fall Among Teens, But Still Too High - Rockdale Newton Citizen - May 15th, 2024 [May 15th, 2024]
- Vaping Rates Fall Among Teens, But Still Too High - The Caledonian-Record - May 15th, 2024 [May 15th, 2024]
- Youth vaping plateaus while adult vaping hits all-time high, survey shows - Talking Retail - May 15th, 2024 [May 15th, 2024]
- Vaping is still cool in college and beyond for young adults : Shots - Health News - NPR - April 12th, 2024 [April 12th, 2024]
- Parents warned over potentially fatal effects of spice vaping - The Irish News - April 12th, 2024 [April 12th, 2024]
- Study: Vaping Linked to Higher Risk of Heart Failure - Health.com - April 12th, 2024 [April 12th, 2024]
- Vape registries hurt local retailers, are bad health policy | Commentary - The Post and Courier - April 12th, 2024 [April 12th, 2024]
- Students caught for first-time vaping offences could face up to S$2,000 fine, according to MOH and HSA - Yahoo Singapore News - April 12th, 2024 [April 12th, 2024]
- OSF adds more STEAM to American Heart Association's anti-vaping/smoking and nutrition efforts - Newsroom OSF HealthCare - April 12th, 2024 [April 12th, 2024]
- Quitting Vaping Doesn't Need to be Hard. The SCPC is Here to Help. - Wyo4News - April 12th, 2024 [April 12th, 2024]
- Smoking cigarettes can destroy lungs, but shocking new study reveals why vaping can harm the heart - Fox News - April 12th, 2024 [April 12th, 2024]
- Lawrenceburg HS to Host Parents Against Vaping Event This Thursday - Eagle 99.3 FM WSCH - April 12th, 2024 [April 12th, 2024]
- Parents urged to talk to young people about vaping Spice dangers | HSC Public Health Agency - Public Health Agency - April 12th, 2024 [April 12th, 2024]
- Smoking/vaping is now outlawed at most of Twin Hills Park - Crestview News Bulletin - April 12th, 2024 [April 12th, 2024]
- Events - Free Program to Quit Smoking or Vaping - Brookdale Community College Newsroom - April 12th, 2024 [April 12th, 2024]
- Vaping trend among Welsh youth focus of anti-vaping campaign - Yahoo News UK - April 12th, 2024 [April 12th, 2024]
- Demand for new youth anti-vaping program surges as Parliament considers world leading vaping reforms - Department of Health - April 12th, 2024 [April 12th, 2024]
- Experts warn of youth lung injury crisis due to vaping - pna.gov.ph - April 12th, 2024 [April 12th, 2024]
- EXCLUSIVE: Next Big Thing In Vaping? New Leader Has Clues - Benzinga - April 12th, 2024 [April 12th, 2024]
- Most smokers wrongly believe vaping is at least as harmful as smoking, says study - Medical Xpress - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Proposed bill strives to clarify legal vaping products in Georgia - The Atlanta Journal Constitution - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Smoking compared with vaping what both do to your body from the first puff - The Telegraph - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Local teen shares story after nearly dying due to vaping - KOKI FOX 23 TULSA - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Vaping can increase susceptibility to infection by SARS-CoV-2 - UC Riverside - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- As youth vaping skyrockets, SC bill aims to crack down on sales of illegal e-cigs - News From The States - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Whether anti-vaping activists like it or not, vaping helps smokers quit - OCRegister - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Adults in England wrongly think vaping is worse than smoking - study - Euronews - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Iowa vaping bill draws opponents from retailers, health care groups - Southernminn.com - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Young people lead vaping and use of some illicit drugs soar - Cosmos - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Fargo Cass Public Health taking action after growing concerns with teen vaping - INFORUM - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- ATS The Bridge tells Rotarians of youth vaping risks - Cleveland Daily Banner - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Kids are doing this everywhere: New Zealand wrestles with rise of primary school vaping - The Guardian - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Iowa vaping bill draws opponents from retailers, health care groups - Blackchronicle - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Could messages from social media influencers stop young people vaping? A look at the government's new campaign - The Conversation - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Vaping is finally on a downward trend in schools - Lootpress - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- How dangerous is vaping and what is the disposable vape ban? - BBC - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- The Canadian Vaping Association calls on the federal government to maintain science-based vaping regulations - GlobeNewswire - February 24th, 2024 [February 24th, 2024]
- Doctor shares what happens to your body if you stop vaping - starting after just 30 minutes - The Mirror - February 24th, 2024 [February 24th, 2024]
- New study adds more smoke to the vaping debate - Cosmos - February 24th, 2024 [February 24th, 2024]
- Disposable vapes to be banned in Scotland under new legislation - Yahoo News UK - February 24th, 2024 [February 24th, 2024]
- Iowa Is One Of The States Working Hardest To Quit Vaping - B100 - February 24th, 2024 [February 24th, 2024]
- Single-use vapes to be banned in Scotland next year - The Times - February 24th, 2024 [February 24th, 2024]
- SGF advises caution on illicit trade after disposable vape ban - Talking Retail - February 24th, 2024 [February 24th, 2024]
- Officials warning teens of the dangers vaping following incident at Smiths Station High School - WTVM - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Spice: the 'zombie drug' being found in some vape liquids - The Conversation - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Siouxland District Health offers new vaping prevention curriculum for youth - Sioux City Journal - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Protecting Youth From the Dangers of Vaping: What's Been Done, What's Needed - Pulmonology Advisor - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Vaping's negative impact on fertility - FOX 26 Houston - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Wake Forest families address vaping and smoking risks involving children - CBS17.com - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- When Doctors Are the Source of Public Health Misinformation - Reason - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Local public health educator discusses dangers of vaping - Standard-Democrat - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Ask Amy: Relatives worry about teen vaping at home - The Denver Post - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Local campaign brings awareness to the dangers of youth vaping - Boise State Public Radio - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Officials warning teens of the dangers vaping - Columbus - WTVM - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- The World's Quickest Car And Vaping Have A Lot In Common - Motor1 - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Kentucky House committee passes bill aimed at curbing teenage vaping in public schools - WDRB - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Cloquet students share more about their culture in anti-vaping campaign called Don't Blow It - WDIO - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Shah: Federal menthol flavoring ban could help reduce teen vaping & tobacco use - Long Island Business News - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Schumer and anti-vaping zealots should stand down - Washington Times - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Miracle recovery: Teen beats vaping-induced coma, returns to the court - Examiner Enterprise - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Southern 7 Health Department seeing increase in teen vaping - KBSI Fox 23 Cape Girardeau News - KBSI Fox 23 Cape Girardeau News | Paducah News - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Abilene ISD reports surge in on-campus vaping, 150+ THC incidents - Yahoo News - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- DHS awards $830k to Wisconsin organizations to address youth vaping - WMTV - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Commentary: Flavored tobacco is fueling youth addition - Roanoke Times - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Vaping's Hidden Hazard: Study Questions Safety of Nicotine Inhalation - SciTechDaily - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]