‘Unprecedented’: teens as young as 13 calling Quitline for help with their vaping addiction

For the first time in the history of Quitline, teenagers as young as 13 are contacting the service for help because they are addicted to vaping.

The director of Quit Victoria, Dr Sarah White, said the calls from teens to the Victorian branch of the service "is unprecedented in our 30-year history".

"The pro-vaping advocates only talk about people who have successfully used vaping to quit smoking, while those that haven't succeeded don't tell their stories," White said. "But the information we have received gives a sense of how people are struggling badly. This year, we have had two 13-year-olds calling for help."

To better understand who is using their services and for what reason, counsellors working for the Victorian Quitline have begun recording de-identified details about the types of calls they receive, including the concerns of the caller, their age and other information. This information is securely locked in a patient-management system.

Some of these de-identified incident reports, provided to Guardian Australia, reveal how Quitline counsellors are navigating calls from vapers desperate to quit for the first time. Counsellors are also fielding calls from parents whose children are addicted and experiencing vaping side-effects such as coughing and chest pain.

"One 15-year-old caller said 80% of his friends vape and he feels strongly addicted, he vapes upon waking and picks it up every five minutes," one of the incident reports said.

Another described how a "13-year-old was supported by their teacher to call from school. "Introduced to vaping in Grade 6 by older friends," the report said. "Vaping causing problems in multiple areas: schools, family and relationships".

One mother contacted the service through its webchat because she was concerned that after she confiscated vapes from her child, they began experiencing "withdrawals and chest pains and arm pains". Another mother described how her 17-year-old was "completely addicted" and had developed a chronic cough.

From 1 January to 30 September 2022, 93 out of 1,465 (6%) of new clients to the Victorian Quitline service reported wanting help to quit vaping.

"We only started capturing these data from January," White said.

"While ten people per month doesn't sound like a lot, it's interesting because there has been no advertising or promotion in Victoria to promote Quitline to help people stop vaping. This suggests people are proactively searching for help.

"When you smoke a cigarette, you have 10 or 15 puffs, and then you stop and you throw it away. You can look at the packet and say 'I've got 10 left'. But with e-cigarettes we're talking about up to 2,400 puffs per pen. So that's 240 cigarettes, and there's no natural stopping point. People are now sitting there with this device in their hands just constantly puffing."

The most comprehensive review yet of vaping harms, published by the Australian National University Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health in April, found conclusive evidence that e-cigarettes caused poisoning, injuries, burns and immediate toxicity through inhalation, including seizures. Vaping also leads to addiction, the review found.

The Australian Council on Smoking and Health said the sale and promotion of e-cigarettes to young people must be banned by governments. Its chief executive, Maurice Swanson, said "schools across Australia are being swamped by e-cigarettes".

"Relying solely on education programs for parents and children is a failed strategy," he said.

White is leaving the role of director of Quit Victoria later in October after eight years in the position. She said when she was first appointed, "I really thought I might be the last ever director of Quit".

"Being a scientist I had done all the reading and research and I thought with the way tobacco trends were going, if we got a few key pieces of tobacco legislation through, I could be the last director. With fantastic investment by government, researchers and NGO's, we may take out the number one leading cause of preventable death and disease, cigarettes, out of contention. We could move on and look at other things putting us in hospital when we don't need to be. But now, e-cigarettes is going to keep this role going for a very long time and that is such a frustration.

"I recently had lunch with the Quitline team, and one staff members who has been working on the Quitline for about 15 years was nearly in tears as she told me about some of the calls around vaping she had received. She asked me: 'How are we letting this happen again?'.

"I feel in some ways I'm now leaving the battlefield in the middle of the war."

Do you know more? melissa.davey@theguardian.com