What is tobacco and vaping?
Tobacco use (‘smoking’) includes cigarettes, roll-your-own tobacco products and any other way of accessing tobacco. Smoking is still the biggest avoidable cause of disease and death in Australia. In Victoria, smoking claims about 4,400 lives each year. In our region, one in five people smoke with some areas as high as one in three.
Vaping refers to the use of small, battery-operated devices (‘e-cigarettes’) that heat a liquid to produce a vapour, which is then inhaled. Most e-cigarettes (‘vapes’) contain nicotine that can have much higher levels of consumption than cigarettes. Nicotine is very addictive, has risks on brain development, and is linked to a number of cancers (Yuan et al J Physiol. 2015).
All vape liquids contain a mixture of harmful chemicals including arsenic, lead, volatile organic compounds found in paint and cleaning products and ultra-fine particles harmful to lungs (Alcohol and Drug Foundation. 2023. Online). To make vapes more appealing to young people, companies make their products appear cool or fun, and create a wide range of sweet flavours (Greenhalgh, EM, & Scollo, MM. 18.9 Influences on the uptake of e-cigarettes. 2023).
What are we doing?
The Healthy Communities Unit works to prevent smoking and vaping, and encourage people who are dependent on nicotine to get help.
Give Smoking and Vaping Away campaign
The Healthy Communities Unit has developed a public campaign to help smokers and vapers quit. We are applying a mental health lens to understand smoking and vaping behaviours. We are producing messages that encourage action at whatever stage of the quitting process people are ready for, in a non-judgemental, supportive environment. In 2024, we are focussed on young people with a theme of ‘Escape the Vape’.
Supporting young people
Barwon Health led a regional discussion with representatives of community organisations, schools and health services to understand why young people in our region are taking up vaping. The Community Consultation Summary Report from that discussion can be found in our resources.
We are working with health services, community agencies and local governments through the Barwon Southwest region to generate resources that assist young people develop skills that help them resist vaping. We are also working to help families and friends support those who vape to be able to stop.
For more information on resources and support services across our region click on the following links:
SUPPORT SERVICES
REGIONAL WORKING GROUP
We developed a presentation that gives information about vaping, discusses the serious health risks, and explains why young people vape, before talking about how families and professionals might be able to intervene to help their young person quit vaping. This can be viewed online here with password - gG3gE#5M.
Resources for young people
The Healthy Communities Unit has worked with mental health and youth agencies throughout Geelong to develop a list of resources that young people can access to assist them to cope with some of the possible feelings and reasons they might be vaping.
Workplace support
Many workers tell us they smoke or vape to relieve their stress, but cigarettes and vaping can cause anxiety symptoms or make them worse.
We have developed FREE resources for workplaces to create smoke and vape free environments and to encourage their workers to seek support to quit smoking and vaping. We have two sticker options (20cm x 15cm) and an A3 poster available. A social media kit is also available.
Contact the Healthy Communities Unit to request your free resources.
If your workplace needs individual support developing a program to reduce smoking and vaping for workers, contact our Workplace Health team.
Vaping video cycle
We have created a video that can be placed on any display screen to cycle through messages that inform users of the harms of vaping – to their health, their friends health, their mental health and the environment. The video provides them with links to seek help to quit.
The video is being promoted for use in schools, medical centres and community agencies.
Resources
