FAR FROM SAFE

Vaping is on the rise among SA teens and experts warn it's no less harmful than smoking cigarettes 

- NASIFA SULAIMAN

THERE’S none of that telltale smell cigarette smokers tend to carry around with them. There’s no smoke, no ash and no cigarette butts.

Just a sleek little metallic gadget that doesn’t smell offensive at all. No wonder vaping is so much easier for your teen to get away with. It’s possibly also why you might think it’s not so bad.

But vapes or e-cigarettes are no less toxic than traditional cigarettes – especially for teens – and there’s been such an increase in the number of adolescents using e-cigarettes worldwide that health experts regard it as an epidemic.

South Africa is no exception, as a recent study by Professor Richard van Zyl-Smit at the University of Cape Town showed. According to the study, 25% of South African matric students make use of a vape. And almost 30% of those surveyed use one almost as soon as they wake up in the morning. Close to a quarter of the teens said they need their vape to get through the schoolday.

Van Zyl-Smit, who’s a leading pulmonologist, says the results are a major cause for concern.

“We saw what tobacco did. We are not prepared to do the same thing and wait 50 years before everyone drops dead of blue-spotted lung disease,” he said in a recent interview.

Dr Anton Meyberg, a specialist physician and pulmonologist practising at Netcare Linksfield Hospital, agrees that “vaping is not safe”.

The consequences are becoming more apparent, he says, and he’s seen it in his own practice. “Last year I saw a few teens with respiratory issues related to vaping. But in the past six months the numbers have spiralled threefold, with many presenting with asthma, chronic coughs and chronic respiratory issues. I’ve dealt with at least 50 patients during this time.”