South-west children as young as 11 vaping; action needed

It's a worrying trend, Ms Rose said, because e-cigarettes contain harmful chemicals.

In addition to that most contain nicotine.

"Vaping is considered safer when compared to cigarettes in that there is no tar and less chemicals," Ms Rose said.

"However, there are still many potentially harmful chemicals and heavy metals. The different flavours have different chemicals and some are worse than others. And of course the majority contain nicotine."

Ms Rose said nicotine was highly addictive.

"Nicotine is a stimulant and it reaches the brain in six seconds. Some research have found dependence can occur quickly with vaping due to the larger doses of nicotine, flavours that people enjoy and ease of use such as people vaping inside."

Ms Rose said most clients she spoke to were buying e-cigarettes from others or on the internet.

"The non-prescription vapes are unregulated products and often have chemicals that are not in the prescription vapes and are potentially dangerous," she said.

"Evidence shows links to asthma, chronic lung disease and cardiovascular disease (increased risk of heart attacks and stroke)."

Ms Rose said the long-term effects of vaping were not known.

However, it is known to slow brain development and affect memory, concentration, learning, self-control, attention, and mood, Ms Rose said.

"Potentially, brain pathways are changed and young people can become more susceptible to other addictions," she said.

Ms Rose said she believed there needed to be more education about the harmful effects of vaping.

"My advice to parents is to explore why their young people are vaping," she said.

"If it is due to stress and using vape for relaxation or stress relief, then explore what other things they can do to relieve stress.

"If it is due to peer and social pressures then have conversations about how to say no and how to manage peer pressures."

Ms Rose's comments come after Quit Victoria, VicHealth and Cancer Council Victoria called for urgent action to protect current and future generations from becoming dependent on harmful e-cigarettes and start smoking.

Last week, the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) released a comprehensive evidence review, which concluded that e-cigarette aerosol is harmful to health and that people who use e-cigarettes are highly likely to go on to smoke.

VicHealth chief executive officer Dr Sandro Demaio said the review found that e-cigarettes present very real dangers to children and youth.

"We're hearing from parents and community leaders, and teens themselves, that vaping is a huge issue for communities around Victoria," Dr Demaio said.

"The liquid in e-cigarettes contains dozens of toxic chemicals including formaldehyde, nicotine and heavy metals. These are chemicals that are known to cause cancer and damage the brain and do not belong in our lungs."

Ms Rose encouraged people concerned about the issue to contact WRAD on 5564 5777

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