School-going children in Australia are using vapes less, a year after the government introduced a ban on disposable vapes.
According to research, vaping rates among those aged 14 to 17 fell from 17.5% at the start of 2023 to 14.6% in April this year.
The Cancer Council Australia's nationwide study Generation Vape's survey also noted that the rates for people aged over 15 reduced by more than a third.
Australian Health Minister Mark Butler said vaping rates for young Australians "have now turned the corner", revealing that officials have seized more than 10 million illegal vapes in the past year.
In an official statement, the minister shared, "Our education and prevention campaigns as well as support to deter people from taking up vaping and smoking or to quit are making a difference."
New laws to stop single-use vapes from being made, imported, advertised, and supplied in Australia were introduced in July 2024.
Moreover, nicotine vapes can now only be legally purchased with a prescription at pharmacies.
Similarly, the UK also imposed a ban on the sale of disposable vapes in June of this year.
Despite vapes being considered safer than normal cigarettes because of the lack of harmful tobacco, health experts have advised that they are not risk-free and the long-term implications of using them are not yet clear.
The latest Generation Vape survey found that 85.4% of young people, from a group of about 3,000 children aged between 14 and 17, had never vaped.
Less than a third of those teenagers expressed an interest in vaping, which the Cancer Council says represents a decline in curiosity about the products.
Although fewer teenagers are reporting that they're able to buy their vapes themselves, tobacconists and vape shops remain a key source of vape sales, despite the new laws.
Notably, despite some of the strongest anti-smoking laws in the world, tobacco use remains Australia's leading cause of preventable death and claims more than 24,000 lives each year.
