The Vapening: ‘In my school, I’d be in the minority for not vaping’

From the teenagers who made a movie with Foróige, to a major conference in Dublin — the health risks of vaping is a hot topic in Ireland, writes Health Correspondent NIAMH GRIFFIN

A still from 'The Vapening' which was made by members of the Foróige CRIB project in Sligo. You can view the film on Youtube ForoigeChannel. See link below.

Though small, vapes leave a potent sweet trail behind which can be smelled in schools across the country, despite a ban on sales to children since December 2023, teenagers have told the Irish Examiner.

One teen said she is a minority in her fifth-year class as a non-vaper, while another said teachers in her school have to chase vapers out of the bathrooms between classes.

A third said some of his classmates started vaping as early as first year of secondary school.

Some of the non-compliant vapes that were destroyed at the HSE offices in Naas, Co Kildare. Picture: Gareth Chaney

Their experiences of how easy it is for school-children to still buy vapes or tobacco products comes as prosecutions under new laws ramp up led by the HSE National Environmental Health Service.

The teenagers are members of the Foróige CRIB Youth & Family Support Project in Sligo. They studied the use of vapes, produced a report, and made a mock documentary, The Vapening.

Ruth Bradley, 16, said: “In my school I’d be more of a minority [for not vaping]. Honestly I don’t like the smell.” They are also expensive, Ruth added.

A still from 'The Vapening', a film made by teenagers who are members of the Foróige CRIB project in Sligo. You can view the film on ForoigeChannel on Youtube, or see link below. 

She described a school science experiment where they researched ingredients in cigarettes and e-cigarettes.

“That was an eye-opener for me,” she said. “One ingredient in some vapes you could use for a disinfectant.”

Wiktor Zuzewicz, 16, said he doesn’t smoke or vape for health reasons. He said: 

You can’t walk into a school bathroom and not have that smell — tons of people were vaping there. 

“It’s rare that you actually see the vapes now, people are hiding it more now.”

He wants more supports for teens who want to quit, saying: “Some of my classmates started in first year and they’re still going.”

Pearlgold Aideyan, 17, said vaping is more common than smoking across her age group.

“Some of my friends try to pressure me [to vape],” she said, adding: “It’s quite hard sometimes.”

Disposable vapes in breach of regulations purchased in Waterford City. Picture: Joe Evans

Pearlgold is already seeing people in her all-girls school cutting down because there are fewer places to buy vapes now.

Girls can be suspended for vaping, she said, and since the teachers “caught on” and check the toilets, it is becoming less common.

Their mockumentary can be viewed here on the @ForoigeChannel on Youtube.

They hope their satirical horror-film approach of reporting on vaping as an outbreak of an infectious disease will bring home a stop-vaping message.

HSE prosecutions 

HSE environmental health officers monitor implementation of the Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Act 2023.

They have successfully prosecuted 51 shops and businesses for selling vapes and tobacco products to under-18s last year.

This included eight prosecutions specifically for vapes.

Some shops were identified during sting operations when the HSE worked with teenage ‘mystery shoppers’ who tested the ban.

Over the last two years, 22 prohibition orders were served for selling vapes with illegal nicotine content. Some 3,371 e-cigarettes and refill containers were removed.

Last year, two businesses were successfully prosecuted in district courts and in 2022 so was an online business selling vapes from a private dwelling. Some 19 destruction orders were applied during 2022 and 2023.

In 2023 they also seized 37.8 tonnes of illegal vapes or refills at ports and airports working with Customs and Revenue. Last year they seized 26.6 tonnes.

HSE Assistant National Director for Environmental Health Ann Marie Part said: “While the majority of retailers take active measures to confirm the age of someone buying tobacco or vape products, it is disappointing to see some retailers still selling to children.

“All it takes is a request for ID at the counter to ensure you are selling to someone over the legal age.”

A display at the HSE offices in Naas, Co Kildare,  of non-compliant vapes that are to be destroyed. Picture: Gareth Chaney

The Irish Vape Vendors Association (IVVA) made submissions to Government on the age limits. Spokeswoman Joanne O’Connell said: “IVVA shops have always been for over 18s.”

Ms O’Connell, who heads up Vapourpal Ltd with shops across Munster, said this stance is easier to enforce now.

“Before the law came in we might get a bit of push-back because it wasn’t the law,” she said. “But now we just completely refuse, we don’t have any problems.”

She was reluctant to comment on where teenagers might get vapes, but pointed out they are sold in many sites other than dedicated shops.

A former smoker who used vapes as an adult to quit, she is “not the biggest fan” of Government plans to restrict flavours to tobacco only.

“A lot of people of all ages who use flavoured vapes don’t want it to taste like tobacco, they want to get completely away from the smoking aspect of it,” she said.

They have not been consulted on this legislation yet, but are open to that, she added.

In medical circles, views are less positive towards vaping. Paul Kavanagh chairs the Royal College of Physicians’ clinical advisory group on smoking and e-cigarettes.

Can vapes help people quit smoking? 

Dr Kavanagh questioned the common argument that vaping is mainly a quit-smoking aid, arguing that if that were true, then higher vaping rates should mean lower tobacco use.

In Ireland, tobacco use stopped declining in 2019 and since then there has been, he said “unrestricted access” to vapes.

“So at a population level if there’s an argument that having more and more people using e-cigarettes helps to reduce smoking prevalence, we have run that experiment here in Ireland,” he said.

What that has led to is rapidly increasing e-cigarette use, particularly among children and young people, and at the same time we have not seen any further reduction in smoking prevalence in our population. 

Another common argument is that vaping is less harmful than smoking tobacco.

“We know that between one and two and two and three people who smoke will die of smoking-related disease. We know that on average people who smoke lose 10 years of life,” he said.

“Smoking is a leading cause of cancer. It causes heart disease, stroke, it causes lung disease. So how could you come up with a product that would be as harmful or more harmful than that?

“So we have to stop and call out this idea that something being not as harmful as smoking is somehow a suggestion the product is safe.”

He emphasised that in Ireland this week “almost 100 people are going to die from smoking-related diseases”.

Dr Kavanagh urged e-cigarette manufacturers who believe their product can safely help adults to stop smoking to submit the device for regulatory assessment.

The HSE does not recommend vaping in their Quit Smoking programme.

Major conference in Dublin 

Links between vaping and the tobacco industry were a focus at the World Conference on Tobacco Control in Dublin this week.

Yolonda Richardson, the president and CEO of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, was one of many Americans attending.

“We are interested in prevention,” she told the Irish Examiner.

“Nicotine is harmful to the developing brain, and so that’s why we had no hesitation in moving quickly from the work where we were trying to prevent teens from smoking to preventing teens from vaping.

'We had no hesitation in moving quickly from the work where we were trying to prevent teens from smoking to preventing teens from vaping,' said Yolonda C Richardson of the US Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids at the World Conference on Tobacco Control in Dublin. File picture

“Because there is this misconception pretty much pushed by the tobacco industry and the vaping industry that vaping is better than smoking — and that’s just not true for young kids, it really does negatively impact brain development.”

She urged people to see vapes as part of a marketing strategy from the tobacco industry to gain new customers. A number of global tobacco companies advertise vaping products on their websites.

The scale of the challenge is clear in data supplied by her campaign.

Just 34 e-cigarette products and devices including tobacco and menthol flavours are approved in the US by the FDA but they said: “It has denied marketing applications for millions of flavored e-cigarette products.”

A scene from 'The Vapening', made by teenagers who are members of the Foróige CRIB project in Sligo, showing different types of vape. 

Ms Richardson also welcomed the growing understanding of the health risks. The national youth tobacco survey in American showed a decline in vape use among young Americans from a high of 20% in 2019 to just 5.9% last year.

Here, 20% of women aged 15-24 use e-cigarettes either daily or occasionally; the rate for men of the same age group is 16%, the Healthy Ireland survey showed.

At this week’s conference, health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill re-committed to Ireland’s plans to further reduce tobacco and e-cigarette use.

Her focus, she said, “is on helping as many young people as possible to avoid using tobacco and any other product which delivers any nicotine”.

The conference also heard discussion of diseases other than cancer linked to smoking or vaping including heart disease and stroke. The Irish Heart Foundation’s senior policy manager Mark Murphy echoed these fears. He pointed to a significant study published in the European Heart Journal.

This found exposure to e-cigarette vapour causes damage to the heart and blood vessels as well as the brain and lungs.

“If you’re a 60-year-old man trying to quit smoking and with vaping you can cut down your smoking, that’s great — but we’re concerned about the next generation,” he warned.

“You’re up against an industry that has endless resources and it’s up to health charities and health boards — who have limited budgets — to take it on.”