More than half of young people who vape also smoke

A study has revealed a worrying link between vaping and smoking, according to the NGO Kom op tegen Kanker. The organisation wants the ban on the sale of tobacco and vapes to minors to be better enforced.

The study surveyed 6,000 Flemish young people between the ages of 12 and 26. It found that more than half of the young people who vape also smoke traditional tobacco products such as cigarettes.

In the youngest category, 12- to 15-year-olds, 51 per cent of those who had ever smoked and vaped said they had vaped first. In addition, one in five smokers said that vaping had made them curious about smoking. "An unmistakable signal," said the organisation.

The ban on the sale of vapes to minors is "widely flouted", according to the organisation. One in four minors do not buy the vaping and smoking products themselves, but have someone else buy them. Forty per cent of minors, however, report buying tobacco products themselves from a night shop or petrol station. For vaping, the figure is 32 per cent. 

Checks last year showed that more than 70 per cent of retailers do not respect the age limit when selling tobacco or vapes. "It is therefore clear that our country urgently needs to put more effort into enforcing the ban so that it does not remain a dead letter," said Veerle Maes, cancer prevention expert at Kom op tegen Kanker.

^{#FlandersNewsService | © ANP / Hollandse Hoogte / Rob Engelaar}