New study highlights alarming vape risks to young people
New research has found young people who vape are three times more likely to start smoking than those who don’t.
Young people who vape are three times more likely to start smoking and also at higher risk of developing other drug issues and a range of health problems, according to research.
The researchers, who carried out an overarching review of existing research published between 2016 and 2024, said their findings supported introducing policy measures aimed at restricting sales and marketing of e-cigarettes to younger people.
“The consistency in the evidence we present is striking; e-cigarette use raises the likelihood of future cigarette smoking among youth and young adults,” they said. “It may also increase smoking frequency and intensity (ie, the gateway effect).”
The research, conducted by the UK’s Public Health Policy Research Unit and published in the online journal Tobacco Control, found that most reviews showed young people who vaped were three times as likely to start smoking as those who didn’t.
Pooled data analysis also showed a strong link between vaping and subsequent substance use, ranging from a near tripling to six-fold heightened risk for marijuana; a 4.5 to more than six-fold increase risk for alcohol, and a 4.5 to a nearly seven-fold increased risk for binge drinking.
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“Certain behaviours, such as e-cigarette, alcohol and marijuana use, often cluster, potentially fulfilling similar social and psychological roles,” the researchers said.
In addition, they said there were consistent links between vaping and a range of health issues, including poor mental health and respiratory problems. Vape users were found to have a 20 per cent to 36 per cent heightened risk of being diagnosed with asthma.
The World Health Organisation has described the increase in young vape users worldwide as “alarming”, and has criticised the tobacco industry for “deliberately and aggressively marketing these products to make them attractive to children and young people”.
The proportion of 15-16-year-olds who smoke e-cigarettes is estimated to range from 5.5 per cent to 41 per cent in WHO Europe region countries alone.
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In Australia, the federal government has credited tough new vaping laws introduced in 2024 for a fall in vape rates in this country.
According to data released by the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute earlier this year, vaping rates among people aged 15 to 29 dropped by about a third between 2023 and 2024, from 15.1 per cent to 10.8 per cent.
Data released by the Cancer Council in July also found that the rate of vaping among 14-17-year-old Australians had started to drop from last year, going from 18 per cent in early 2023 to 15 per cent in 2025.
However, Alecia Brooks, chair of Cancer Council’s Tobacco Issues Committee, said at the time that some shops were still “blatantly” selling vapes to young people.
“Vapes are becoming less socially acceptable, and less accessible. However, tobacconists in particular continue to exploit young people,” Brooks said.
“Of those who said they purchased their own vape this year, over a third said they’d purchased it from a tobacconist or vape shop.”
The researchers responsible for the latest overarching review acknowledged that “inferring causality remains challenging”, but nonetheless said there were consistent associations with increased smoking and “multiple possible harms to health and wellbeing” in young people.
“Our findings support the implementation of policy measures to restrict sales and marketing of e-cigarettes to young people, and restrictions on advertising design features that are designed for, or likely to appeal to, young people,” they said.
“Such efforts may form part of a wider set of measures to restrict harms, including raising the public’s and young people’s awareness of these harms, and counter-marketing to raise public and policy awareness of the marketing and strategies that e-cigarette companies have targeted at children and young people.”
