Concerns have been raised regarding a new "vape hunting" trend among young people which is seeing children as young as six vaping.
The Lagan Village Youth and Community Group have launched a new campaign highlighting the dangers of vaping following a worrying rise in children and young people using the nicotine product.
Speaking to Belfast Live, youth worker Darren Leighton, said that in recent months, they have become aware of a dangerous new trend where young children are picking discarded vape pens up off of the street and attempting to use them.
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He also says that he is seeing more and more young people starting to vape as the product has now become a fashionable thing to do.
Darren said that children as young as six years old have been involved in the "vape hunting" trend, which poses a number of risks to them due to the chemicals that are in the vapes, along with the dangers of picking something up off of the street and putting it in their mouths.
He said: "The idea behind the campaign is that we are starting to see a lot of kids in our junior section from the ages of eight and upwards taking part in this new trend of vape hunting, where they are walking about the streets, finding a vape, which ultimately has its own dangers as you don't know what kind of germs are on it.
"We are also seeing children of a younger age being allowed to vape. A lot of the parents don't know what the kids are doing, but as we are working with them we are picking up on these new trends.
"The leaflet that we have developed highlights some of the medical aspects behind the dangers surrounding vaping and not just targets the kids, but their parents so that we can let them know the risks behind vaping.
"Vaping started to get people to stop smoking, but now it seems like it is a cool thing for young people to do. Instead of wanting to smoke they are vaping and in a way it is taking away from what they were originally created to do in the first place."
UUP councillor John Kyle has been supporting the Lagan Village Youth and Community Group with the launch of their campaign and said that it is important that parents are aware of the dangers that vaping could pose to their children.
He said: "This is a great campaign, because vapes were originally developed as e-cigarettes to help people to stop smoking so they were designed for adult cigarette smokers to help them stop what was a very toxic and addictive habit.
"Although what has happened is that the tobacco industry have now seen an opportunity to market something that can generate a huge income for them by developing vapes, which have all sorts of chemicals, flavourings and other addictive substances to the e-cigarettes.
"People who have never smoked before are vaping and they quickly develop a habit and become dependent on vapes and they are inhaling chemicals which are damaging their lungs and could be affecting their brain.
"When you are talking about children and adolescents their brain is very sensitive and vulnerable and these chemicals can affect the brain development. So potentially vapes have significant health and mental health dangers with them."
The councillor said that more needs to be done in order to prevent children and young people from accessing vapes.
He continued: "There are children who are now pre-teens who are now using vapes and spending up to £5 a day buying them. There clearly needs to be some sort of regulation.
"They should not be used by young children and should really only be used by people who are addicted to nicotine and want to stop smoking.
"There needs to be some restrictions on how they are sold, who they are sold to and with clear information about what the potential dangers are."
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