Feeling lost and angry over the death of his father, Lucas Sykes started vaping in 2021 after his friends suggested it would help the grieving process. He was 10. What started as a “dumb move” developed into a nicotine addiction, Lucas says.
Although retailers in New Zealand are prohibited from selling products to children, Lucas had no trouble purchasing “very affordable, easy-to-get, and pleasant to taste” vapes from a convenience store just 10 metres from his school.
Despite playing basketball and kickboxing, Lucas now sometimes finds himself “bent over coughing” and unable to breathe. Efforts to stop vaping have led to headaches and worsened anxiety, with his mood going from “cheery to very dark”.
“When I started vaping, I got quite cocky and would be a smart arse to teachers, thinking I was cool and kids would like me,” he says.
Across New Zealand concern about vaping among young children – including those in primary school – is growing. Critics argue regulations and steps to reduce vaping are proving ineffective, in part due to a lack of enforcement. While there is no data specifically looking at primary school-age vaping yet, the anecdotal evidence suggests it is on the rise.
Ministry of education figures show 1,945 primary and intermediate school students were stood down – meaning removed from school for a short period – for vaping or smoking in 2023, up 73% since 2021. More broadly, government studies show youth vaping has risen significantly since 2015. One study found 10% of 14- to 15-year-olds vape daily, with rates rising among Māori and Pacific youths.
Phil Palfrey, an executive member of the New Zealand Principals’ Federation (NZPF), told the Guardian that in 39 years as a principal in primary and intermediate schools, he had never seen a fad so popular with students.
“When kids as young as eight are putting anything into their lungs that is foreign [it] is just anathema to me,” he says.
Youth counsellor Sarah Ozanne works with primary schoolchildren in a small regional town. She estimates about 70% of her clients say they have turned to vaping as a way to control anxiety or anger. Ozanne says unlike smoking, vaping can go unnoticed in class, and has seen children regularly vaping through their clothes and swallowing the substance.
“It means kids are doing this everywhere – at a store, in a classroom, in bed – the amount of nicotine they’re swallowing is phenomenal,” she says.
Inside schools, teachers are seeing the effects of vaping in the classroom. Will Struthers, principal of Scots College in Wellington, says vaping affects student behaviour and concentration levels, adding that the school has seen “examples of students making poor decisions or acting erratically as a result of nicotine addiction”.
‘Blatantly targeting students’
In recent years, New Zealand has introduced measures to tackle youth vaping. In 2023, regulations were introduced to reduce the maximum nicotine concentration allowed in single-use vapes and ban specialist vape retailers from trading within 300 metres of schools. All vaping devices must have removable batteries and safety mechanisms.
Advertising vape products is illegal in New Zealand, but specialist vape retailers can advertise to existing customers and promote the use of vaping as an alternative to smoking.
However vape retailers, like those in other countries including Australia, have been criticised for marketing strategies aimed at young people. Despite restrictions, Vape Free Kids NZ spokesperson Tammy Downer says manufacturers use brightly coloured advertising and “sneaky” marketing techniques to target children.
A spokesperson for the ministry of health (MoH) the government signalled in November it would look to strengthen youth vaping measures. Associate minister for health, Casey Costello, says although vaping is an important tool to help reduce cigarette use, the government is committed to strengthening penalties for retailers that sell to people under 18 and improving support to schools. No decisions have been made, but “regulations are not strong enough.”
The MoH spokesperson says it is inappropriate for advertising to appeal specifically to youth, and flavour descriptions must be accurate and generic. Names like “cotton candy” and “strawberry jelly doughnut” are prohibited, they said.
MoH data suggests there are 1,261 specialist retailers and about 5,760 general vape retailers in New Zealand. Currently, 43 officers monitor compliance by inspecting vaping retailers, investigating complaints and executing controlled purchase operations, the spokesperson says.
To improve compliance, MoH is in the process of recruiting more officers, they say.
Vaping industry body, Vaping Industry Association New Zealand (VIANZ), did not respond to the Guardian’s queries, but its official position is that vaping should be limited to adults.
“VIANZ is so adamant about this that we ask the public to report stores who sell to youth or anyone, whether a member or not, who targets youth through illegal marketing,” VIANZ said in a statement.
‘We are not experts’
Schools are trying different approaches to tackle the issue. South Wellington Intermediate School principal, Toby Stokes, says feeling unsupported, the staff decided to organise expert discussion evenings for parents.
“When students are asking for help, and when schools are asking for help, we’ve been finding it hard to get the support we need. We are not experts, so we want to ensure we’re giving the right information at the right time and not muddying the waters.”
This year, Palfrey and the NZPF drafted a nationwide response policy to help schools manage vaping use among students.
Now 13, Lucas is still addicted to nicotine. After talking to his mother, Sherryn Eagle, the pair are slowly reducing Lucas’ nicotine intake. Traditional quit-smoking aids have been ineffective, Eagle says.
She says: “I blamed myself for a bit, but I was a widow with two dependant children doing the best I could [and] children are going to [vape] whether we like it or not.”
