The National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA) is to roll out a national anti-vaping campaign next year after a recently concluded baseline assessment pointed to usage among primary and high school-aged students, sparking fears over nicotine addiction which might continue into adulthood.

Speaking with the Jamaica Observer in a recent interview, NCDA Research Analyst Uki Atkinson said the study conducted over the past two months using focus groups across three parishes was the result of increasing reports from across the island from schools about vaping.

“Those discussions yielded a wealth of information as to what is going on with vaping. We knew already that it’s happening, but to hear it directly from the horse’s mouth confirms that we have an increasing problem facing us,” Atkinson said.

Atkinson said the students, some of whom spoke at length about their own experience with vaping, and other individuals in their space, told the Observer, “the fact is that it is now almost like a trend with young people”.

“So vaping is cool, they are not thinking necessarily about the health effects of it because the risk perception of vaping is very low; they are looking at the flavours which is exactly what the products are intended to do; in other words, they market these products in a way so you have the chocolate flavour and the mint flavour and raspberry and all of these and the different devices and the attractiveness of the way the devices are made,” she pointed out.

She said youngsters were also exultant about the fact they can vape without detection by adults, and ease of access to the product.

“They emphasised that teachers don’t know, and parents don’t know [the devices], so they can use it in their presence and they don’t know. You can do it incognito. Because you can’t really smell it; it’s not like cigarettes where when somebody smokes you know because you smell it. Some of them are very sweet-smelling, they are aromatic,” Atkinson explained.

She said students described the fad as an escape hatch.

“When we asked why young people are vaping, they said it’s a trend, it’s a fad, it helps them relax, [and] it helps them escape some of the problems they are having,” Atkinson shared.

The NCDA is, however, concerned about one troubling factor that is eluding the youngsters.

“What we know is the majority of these products they are consuming contain significant amounts of nicotine and nicotine is one of the most addictive substances, and a lot of people don’t know this, and especially when you introduce it to the growing brain the likelihood of addiction is very high,” she said.

In noting that the NCDA had no intention of being “sensational” or “the bearer of bad news” Atkinson said during the assessment guidance counsellors, school administrators, vice-principals and other school officials expressed concern about children vaping at school.

“While they confiscate the devices, they have outlined an increasing problem with this substance. Some of them have said they are not challenged with ganja anymore as vaping has taken over. They have also noted that not all the devices contain nicotine; some of them contain cannabis,” Atkinson disclosed.

Said Atkinson: “We are not talking about uptown children, we are talking about parishes that have remote rural schools across the board. It’s not confined to one socioeconomic group.”

“We have a lot on our hands. Our young people are struggling with their mental health, struggling with coping, and if we do not attend to them urgently, we are going to have major problems later on. That’s the reality. I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news but we have to keep it real,” she said.

Atkinson said the NCDA will be conducting the campaign over the new year and will incorporate the recommendations from the youth who were canvassed who indicated that they would prefer messaging from their peers that is balanced and not “scare tactics”.