Vaping! how bad is it? Should it be banned? Check Deets here

Digital Desk: Vaping frequently makes headlines, with some trying to make e-cigarettes more widely available to assist smokers to stop, while others want vaping goods prohibited, citing safety concerns, particularly for teenagers.

Tobacco use is dangerous. It is Australia's top preventable cause of death. It is responsible for 13% of all deaths, including lung, mouth, throat, and bladder cancer, as well as emphysema, heart attack, and stroke, to name a few. When compared to non-smokers, people who smoke frequently and do not quit lose around ten years of life. 

The active element in both cigarettes and nicotine vaping products is nicotine, a moderate stimulant. It is addictive, but it is not the cause of cancer or other smoking-related disorders.

People should not be addicted to nicotine if possible, but having a safe supply without harmful compounds, such as nicotine patches or gum, is safer than smoking. Making these alternative sources available is referred to as "harm reduction."

Some are concerned about teen vaping product use, however, current statistics suggest that very few teens vape regularly. Depending to the survey, 9.6% to 32% of 14-17-year-olds had experimented with vaping at some point in their lives. 

Yet, only about 2% of 14-17-year-olds indicate they have used vapes in the last year. This figure more than doubled between 2016 and 2019, however, it remains far lower than the rates of teen smoking (3.2%) and teen alcohol usage (32%).

It's the same pattern we observe with drugs other than alcohol: a percentage of people try them, but only a very tiny percentage of them continue to use them regularly or for an extended period. Around 60% of persons who try vaping do so only once or twice. 

Drug prohibition does not prevent individuals from using them; more than 43% of Australians have tried an illicit substance at least once. And it has very little effect on drug availability.

However, prohibition has a lot of unexpected consequences, such as driving drugs underground and creating a black market, or increasing damages when users switch to other, sometimes more hazardous narcotics. 

The topic is not whether we should prevent minors from using vaping goods or whether we should make vaping products more accessible to adults as an alternative to smoking. Well as the study suggests, yes, both of those questions are correct.