03-20-2023, 07:52 PM
Disturbing new figures have revealed a massive rise in vaping among teens - prompting more calls for a ban on disposable e-cigs.
A staggering one in ten school kids in S4 say they vape regularly, a threefold increase in the last five years, new Scottish Government data suggests.
And the rate for 13-year-olds in S2 has also more than doubled, with 4.3 per cent of this age group routinely smoking e-cigs.
The shock rise comes amid the Daily Record’s campaign to outlaw environmentally-damaging disposable vapes, with single-use brands exploding in popularity in the last couple of years.
It’s feared these brightly-coloured, candy-favoured gadgets are being targeted at kids and youngsters.
Following the launch of the Record’s campaign to highlight the environmental and litter menace posed by throwaway vapes, the Scottish Government announced an “urgent review” to consider measures including a potential ban.
Anti-smoking charity ASH Scotland said kids using vaping products also posed a major public health worry.
Chief executive Sheila Duffy said: “Most vaping products include nicotine, which is highly addictive, and toxic e-liquids that have not been safety tested for inhalation, and could risk damage to their growing lungs over time.
“Young people who experiment with e-cigarettes are three times as likely to start cigarette smoking than those who do not, and this is a prospect we should all want our children to avoid.
“Promoting novel products such as recreational e-cigarettes is one way in which the tobacco industry is reaching out to future generations of potential consumers - and it is an issue that needs to be tackled by the Scottish Government as a matter of urgency."
A staggering one in ten school kids in S4 say they vape regularly, a threefold increase in the last five years, new Scottish Government data suggests.
And the rate for 13-year-olds in S2 has also more than doubled, with 4.3 per cent of this age group routinely smoking e-cigs.
The shock rise comes amid the Daily Record’s campaign to outlaw environmentally-damaging disposable vapes, with single-use brands exploding in popularity in the last couple of years.
It’s feared these brightly-coloured, candy-favoured gadgets are being targeted at kids and youngsters.
Following the launch of the Record’s campaign to highlight the environmental and litter menace posed by throwaway vapes, the Scottish Government announced an “urgent review” to consider measures including a potential ban.
Anti-smoking charity ASH Scotland said kids using vaping products also posed a major public health worry.
Chief executive Sheila Duffy said: “Most vaping products include nicotine, which is highly addictive, and toxic e-liquids that have not been safety tested for inhalation, and could risk damage to their growing lungs over time.
“Young people who experiment with e-cigarettes are three times as likely to start cigarette smoking than those who do not, and this is a prospect we should all want our children to avoid.
“Promoting novel products such as recreational e-cigarettes is one way in which the tobacco industry is reaching out to future generations of potential consumers - and it is an issue that needs to be tackled by the Scottish Government as a matter of urgency."