Close to one million youngsters in Britain trying vaping in 2024
New research shows 18% of 11 to 17-year-olds, approximately 980,000 young individuals, reported engaging in vaping this year. Read the full report.
The annual youth vaping YouGov survey on behalf of Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) has been published. Findings indicate 18% of 11 to 17-year-olds, approximately 980,000 young individuals, reported engaging in vaping this year.
Analysis of vaping trends in young people
In 2024, a marked proportion of the youth vaping consisted primarily of experimental users, with over 520,000 youngsters having tried e-cigarettes only once or twice.
In addition, 4.2% of young individuals vaped more than once a week.
More alarmingly, the awareness and influence of e-cigarette promotions have surged, with 55% of surveyed children aware of advertising efforts, a significant increase from previous numbers.
The call for tobacco and vapes Bill
The renewed interest and push for the enactment of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill has never been timelier. This legislation aims to introduce stringent controls on vaping products by curbing their appeal to the younger demographic through several measures.
Measures include escalating the legal age for purchasing tobacco, banning flavoured e-cigarettes appealing to youth, and enforcing plain packaging.
Such regulatory frameworks are anticipated to dramatically reduce vaping’s allure to teenagers and prevent its potential health repercussions but should have been introduced many years ago as warned by Allen Carr’s Easyway many times of the years.
The consequences of youth vaping
Vaping is not safe but, due to the confused positioning by government and marketing by Big Vape, young people often believe it is safe.
Nearly half of vaping youngsters obtained their devices from venues where sales to minors are prohibited.
The popularity and easy access to disposable vapes among the youth persists.
With increasing awareness and accessibility of e-cigarettes, health experts are sounding alarms over the potential long-term health risks, notably the risk of nicotine addiction associated with early vaping.
Comment by Allen Carr’s Easyway
At Allen Carr’s Easyway, every year we see thousands of smokers and thousands of vapers who we help to freedom with our drug free one day seminar. The increasing numbers of people addicted to only vaping over the last ten years is of significant concern particularly the growth in numbers of young people.
We’ve been warning for years that young people will get drawn into nicotine addiction as a result of lack of regulation and it’s quite predictable that vapers will increase the amount and strength of nicotine they consume as a result of addiction. That’s simply how addiction works – levels of the drug do not reduce – the addiction gets progressively worse.
Vaping is often thought of as less harmful than smoking but young people, due to marketing and mixed messaging, often think it is harmless yet there are mental and physical effects of vaping which anyone considering vaping needs to be aware of.
Nicotine is highly addictive and studies show that vaping affects young people’s brain and lung development in devastating ways.
In terms of policy and taxation more needs to be done to educate young people that vaping is not harmless as well as regulating access to all vapes, regulating the way they are marketed and helping all smokers and vapers that have fallen into the nicotine trap to find freedom. Taxation policy can help reduce vaping levels amongst youngsters and adults alike.
Allen Carr’s Easyway to stop vaping provides a proven ,effective, easy solution to getting free from cigarettes without the need to switch to vaping and remaining a nicotine addict.
