Surging Vaping Rates by Children & Teens Calls for Action!

Surging vaping rates among South African teens have spurred urgent calls for government action. Experts warn that without swift regulation, particularly through the proposed Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill, the country risks facing a national epidemic.

A University of Cape Town study found that 17% of high school students currently vape, with 38% doing so daily and 88% using nicotine products. The easy availability of these products via apps such as Checkers Sixty60 has compounded the issue.

Interviews with two boys aged 12 and 15 reveal that vaping is common even among children as young as ten. The 15-year-old, a Grade 10 student, noted that many peers vape discreetly on school grounds during intervals when teachers are not present. Similarly, the 12-year-old reported incidents of primary school children vaping, citing an instance where a Grade 5 student brought a vape to school and faced disciplinary action after being reported.

The Western Cape Health Department has warned that young vapers are three times more likely to begin smoking, while the Western Cape Education Department has observed an increase in vaping on school premises.

Researchers at UCT emphasize that immediate government intervention is crucial. The proposed bill aims to regulate vaping products, enforce age restrictions, and ban youth-targeted advertising to mitigate the growing nicotine addiction crisis. This call to action follows the largest study of its kind in South Africa—conducted with Utrecht University and published in The Lancet’s Clinical Medicine—which surveyed 25,000 learners from 52 fee-paying high schools nationwide.

Using a mixed-method approach, the study revealed that nearly 17% of learners currently use vapes, 38.3% vape daily, over 50% vape more than four days per week, and 88% of users reported nicotine use. Indicators of addiction were also evident: 47% of teen vapers use their device within an hour of waking, 11.8% cannot get through the school day without vaping, and 24.9% experience anxiety or anger when unable to vape.

Samantha Filby from UCT’s Research Unit on the Economics of Exercisable Products stressed the need for regulation to ban advertisements targeting youth and enforce age limits. She noted that the accessibility of vape products via platforms like Checkers Sixty60 or UberEats has contributed to their widespread use. The bill’s restrictions on vape marketing could help dispel the myth of vaping safety and reduce its appeal among young people.

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