In 2014 Paul Dillon started writing about electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, after receiving letters from schools across the country asking for advice.
Students were beginning to bring these devices to school and teachers, not surprisingly, knew little about them.
Fast-forward seven years and the former teacher is being inundated with requests to explain a drug that threatens to become a deadly teenage trend.
“With the COVID-19 restrictions in place I had a six-week period without working in schools,” Mr Dillon says.
“Since early May I have been extremely busy delivering online presentations to students across the country and, since late June, have been fortunate enough to go back into NSW schools to present face-to-face (following social distancing) whenever possible.
“The one thing that almost every school (public, Independent and Catholic) has requested I cover in my presentations is vaping.”
Mr Dillon has been working in the area of drug education for more than 25 years.
He now educates communities through his own business, Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia (DARTA).
“Clearly something is happening in this area,” Mr Dillon says.
“Schools are struggling with how to deal with the issue and many parents simply have no idea what vaping actually is, why it has become so popular in such a short time, and how to talk to their teen about it.”
Mr Dillon says some of the incidences reported by schools, including those in the Hunter, are:
- Finding a group of Year 7 girls vaping in a toilet
- Year 9 students leaving school grounds at lunchtime to vape in a local park
- Busting two Year 12 boys who were importing vaping pods from China in bulk and supplying them at great profit to students from other schools in the local area
- Having parents of a Year 12 girl asking for a ‘vaping room’ to be established at the school because their daughter was nicotine dependent due to her ‘juuling’ for the past couple of years
- Suspending a number of Year 10 students caught vaping on a school bus on the way to an excursion
In what many believe is a positive step toward combating the scourge threatening communities, e-cigarettes and e-liquids containing nicotine became a prescription only medicine from 1st October.
This means pharmacists in community pharmacies can supply e-liquids and e-cigarettes (containing nicotine) to their customers (18 years and over) if they have a valid prescription from a doctor.
For retailers other than pharmacies it will continue to be illegal to sell e-liquids and e-cigarettes that contain nicotine. This includes online sales.
So what is vaping?
“E-cigarettes are now most commonly referred to as ‘vapes’ by young people,” Mr Dillon says.
“There is also a particular brand called a ‘JUUL’ – it looks a lot like a USB – that young women are more likely to use. As such you may hear some young people talk about ‘juuling’.
“This is now the most popular e-cigarette brand in the US and although these devices work in exactly the same way as other vapes they are regarded by some as being just that bit cooler.
“An e-cigarette is a device that simulates smoking by producing a vapour. Operated by a battery, they vaporise a liquid solution (called ‘e-liquid’ or ‘e-juice’) which may or may not contain nicotine, as well as flavourings ranging from fruit through to chocolate, bubble-gum and Red Bull.
“There are also solutions that contain THC oil, THC being the main psychoactive component of cannabis.
Mr Dillon says these devices are a fairly new invention, the first produced in 2003 by a Chinese pharmacist who wanted to provide an alternative and ‘safer’ way to inhale nicotine.
“It is tobacco-free and eliminates the burning process – instead of smoking. When the liquid is turned into a vapour, it is inhaled or ‘vaped’.
“Originally they were called ‘electronic nicotine delivery systems’ (ENDS) and were promoted as an effective way of quitting smoking.”
What are the risks?
E-cigarettes are not risk free.
According to NSW Health they may expose users and bystanders to chemicals and toxins such as propylene glycol, glycerol or ethylene glycol that cause adverse health effects, and may increase the risk of developing cardiovascular, cancer and respiratory diseases.
E-liquids or vapour can also contain potentially harmful chemicals.
Often mislabelled, E-cigarettes may contain high levels of nicotine, with the potential to cause nicotine poisoning.
“There is no evidence to support that vaping is ‘safe’,” Mr Dillon says.
“Recent studies have found that repeated exposure to the vapour produced could pose a substantial risk of lung disease and damage.
“The inhaled vapour can inflame the lung tissue and expose users to formaldehyde and heavy metals, which are linked to cancer and other diseases.
“In 2019, a number of people in the US died and more than 2000 people developed serious lung damage linked to vaping.
“This condition was named EVALI (e-cigarette or vaping product use associated injury) and was eventually found not to be a chronic condition but acute poisoning amongst those who had vaped contaminated cannabis e-liquids.”
Although death numbers may be minimal, Mr Dillon says it’s fairly new status means vaping is yet to be the topic of long term studies.
“Whether nicotine is ingested as smoke or a vapour it is still a dangerous and highly addictive substance,” he says.
“Whilst vaping may expose you to fewer chemicals than smoking, vaping nicotine is still harmful to health. There have been increasing reports of nicotine poisoning after vaping, particularly among non-smokers, with some users attending emergency departments with a range of symptoms.
“A few weeks ago I received a DM from a young person who wanted to tell me about a friend who had been vaping and became extremely unwell.
“I have removed their name but have included a copy of the message here … part of it reads as follows: “She was vaping … and about an hour later she was vomiting and felt extremely sick, showing all the symptoms of nicotine poisoning including tremors, sweating, nausea, vomiting etc. She was throwing up all night until about 4am and then was still feeling very sick and nauseous for about the next 3-4 days.”
Since receiving the message Mr Dillon admits he’s been using it in his talks to students to illustrate that things can go wrong with vaping.
“Are most vapers likely to die or even get very sick from nicotine poisoning? Of course not, but it is a risk and something that anyone considering vaping needs to be aware of. “
How many teens are actually vaping?
According to the 2017 Australian Secondary School Students Alcohol and Other Drugs (ASSAD) study, 13% of 12 to 17-year-old students reported that they had ever used an e-cigarette. Around one third (34%) of 12 to 15-year-old and just over one quarter (27%) of 16 and 17-year-old e-cigarette users reported vaping at least once during the past month.
“That was in 2017 – I strongly believe that vaping is far more prevalent today,” Mr Dillon said.
“I’ve worked with a number of schools in the past couple of years and used questions from the ASSAD survey to provide a report on AOD use in their school community. Vaping rates at all the schools were nearly double of those reported in the 2017 survey.
“In addition, even though flavoured vapour was the most commonly reported product used when vaping, nicotine was not too far behind.”
Aside from guest speaking at Australian schools, Paul Dillon also hosts his own regular blog: Doing Drugs With Paul Dillon.
