New research has found that Australian high school students are putting their health at risk by experimenting across a range of nicotine products, including vapes, tobacco and nicotine pouches, with male students showing notably higher rates of cigarette and pouch use.
The findings, published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, are drawn from one of the largest recent surveys “examining lifetime e-cigarette, tobacco cigarette and nicotine pouch use among Australian adolescents”.
The study
Led by the Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use at the University of Sydney, the study draws on a sample of 1848 students aged 14–18 from 20 schools across New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia.
The study found that over 12% of teens had used e-cigarettes in their lifetime, almost 6% had used tobacco, while 3.5% had used nicotine pouches.
Over 2% of respondents had used all 3, and use of each product was interrelated. In particular, nicotine pouches, a newly emerging nicotine product of concern, were rarely used in isolation.
Among adolescents who had used nicotine pouches, 82% had also vaped, and 71% had smoked cigarettes.
Compared to females, males had nearly 3 times greater odds of nicotine pouch use and over 1.5 times greater odds of cigarette use.
Nicotine pouch use was reported by 4.8% of males, compared to 1.5% of females, and tobacco cigarette use was reported by 6.9% of males compared to 4.1% of females.
‘Teenage years critical for preventing use’
Lead author Dr Lauren Gardner, Senior Research Fellow at the Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use at the University of Sydney, says the study shows the need for targeted strategies to prevent teenage nicotine addiction and to support young people to quit.
“The teenage years are a critical period for preventing nicotine use — it’s the period when the brain is most susceptible to addiction, which they can then carry for life,” she says.
“Our study shows that teenage boys may benefit from targeted support.
“Many teens who have used one nicotine product have also tried others, so we need effective prevention strategies that address shared risk factors for nicotine use more broadly, rather than focusing on just vaping or smoking.”
A call for broader action
Associate Professor Raglan Maddox, from the Australian National University and Co-Convenor of the Tobacco, Alcohol and Other Drugs Special Interest Group within the Public Health Association of Australia, says Governments must continue to enhance measures to protect our youngest generations from nicotine addiction.
“The tobacco and nicotine industry keeps finding new products and new ways to keep nicotine in people’s lives. Nicotine pouches are the latest example,” he says.
“This study shows the problem is bigger than any one product. Young people are being exposed to cigarettes, vapes and nicotine pouches, so our response needs to deal with all of them — not just one at a time.
“We must do more to protect young people’s health, including strengthening prevention, running sustained mass media campaigns, maintaining pharmacy-only vape sales, and strong enforcement against retailers illegally selling these products.
“Strong tobacco price and tax measures should also be retained as part of a comprehensive tobacco-control response to help prevent children and young people from taking up smoking.”
