Vaping the 'biggest' public health issue facing young people

The New South Wales government has launched its latest campaign to crack down on vaping addiction in young people. It comes as the latest NSW Population Health survey reveals a 16.5 per cent increase in vaping in those aged between 16 and 24. New South Wales Health Minister Ryan Park said by putting young people at the centre of the campaign, they hope to drive vaping rates back down and for more people to seek support. "I think this is the biggest public health challenge our community and certainly our young people face," he told Sky News Australia. “What we're trying to explain to young people is the short-term effects we already know about - breathing, respiratory issues, problems with their lungs, poisoning. “These are issues that we know can happen really quickly on top of, obviously, one of the worst things that can happen, which is nicotine addiction. “What we’re saying to young people is please don’t get addicted to nicotine because we already know the damage that drug can do. “We saw some real challenges over the last century bringing smoking rates down; we can’t wait that long to bring the rates down for people vaping - it will just lead to too much harm.”