A few weeks ago, we asked our Instagram audience what questions they had around vaping. Hundreds, and hundreds, replied. Today, we’re bringing you a special Sunday morning edition of our newsletter to bring you some of the answers.

What I noticed when doing research for you is just how new vaping is for everyone with skin in the game - governments trying to regulate it, researchers trying to study it, doctors trying to advise on it, and users (the majority of whom are young Aussies) addicted to it.

A quick note - this newsletter is sponsored by the Australian Department of Health and Aged Care, but they had no editorial influence over what you’re about to read.

Let’s get into it!

Greg, Sydney: What actually is a vape?

Greg asked a relatively simple question that has a slightly-more-complex answer. A vape is a battery-operated device that can look like a cigarette or cigar, but can also look eerily similar to a highlighter pen or USB. As illegal vapes are often explicitly designed to appeal to younger consumers, they often are wrapped in colour or bright graphics (these are the ones that are usually bought on the vaping black market - but we’ll get to that later).

The mist or vapour that comes out of vapes is caused by the heating of the liquid chemicals, which is also what you breathe in when vaping. One of the key substances in most vapes is nicotine - the extremely addictive substance also in cigarettes.

The science behind what makes nicotine so addictive is fascinating - in short, the chemical floods your brain and triggers the release of dopamine, which is the chemical responsible for those ‘feel-good’ emotions. We receive dopamine hits almost like a reward from our brain - albeit a temporary one.

See, the ‘hit’ you get from nicotine doesn’t last long – soon, your brain starts craving more nicotine to get that same rush. If you don’t fulfil that craving, you could get a wave of low mood or irritability. Over time, your brain starts to trick you into thinking that the only way to replace the dopamine hit is with another puff. That's nicotine addiction.

For young people, a nicotine addiction – or even occasional vaping – can be especially harmful. Our brains are still developing until our late 20s, and nicotine can disrupt that process, leading to longer-term effects.

Sienna, Adelaide: Is vaping actually new? Hasn’t it been around for ages?

In the past five years, vapes have exploded in popularity. In 2016, it’s estimated about 100,000 Australians used vapes daily. According to the National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDSHS), that jumped to about 700,000 daily users by 2023.

Of those who have discovered vaping in the last few years, we know young people make up a massive portion - nearly one in 10 people aged 18-24 are vaping daily in Australia.

Brendan, Perth: Is vaping as bad for you as people say?

In short, yes. I found that it’s divided into the physical and mental effects, and within each, there’s long and short-term impacts.

As you’re vaping, short term health effects can develop - things like lung inflammation, coughing, and breathing issues. People can also experience persistent coughing, chest pain and palpitations, and respiratory problems.

It can also result in permanent lung damage and nicotine poisoning. Nicotine poisoning happens if you have too much nicotine in your body from inhalation or the liquid nicotine in a vape is swallowed. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, dizziness, headaches, or even feeling confused. It can also make you weak and tired.

Vaping also impacts your brain. We talked above about the reason why nicotine is so addictive, but not why it is so harmful. There are several ways research says vaping can impact the brain – things like mood, impulse control and learning. There’s also a lot of research that tells us that nicotine dependence can hurt your mental health - for example, the World Health Organisation says vaping has been directly linked to anxiety disorders.

It’s important to recognise that there’s a lot of unknowns when it comes to the true long-term effects of vaping because, quite simply, vaping hasn’t been around long enough. We’ll only really know the long-time impacts when the first generation of heavy vapers - that’s us - grow older. But we do know that the risk of harm by being exposed to these chemicals is increased by frequent vaping over a period of time.

Kate, Sydney: Is vaping against the law now? What’s changed?

There’s been a real push from the Australian Government to stop people from accessing vapes altogether, unless you want a vape because you’re trying to quit smoking or to manage nicotine dependence.

In July, Australia became the first country in the world to ban the sale of all vapes outside of pharmacies. This law meant that the only legal way to access a vape was from a pharmacy - if you had a prescription.

However, in October, a new law came into effect that allows adults to buy vapes from a pharmacy without a prescription, where state and territory laws allow. This was designed for people who don’t have a prescription, but do want to access a vape to quit smoking or to manage their nicotine dependence. People must speak to the pharmacist before purchasing vapes from them, and it’s only available for people aged 18 and over (people under 18 still need a prescription).

In a recent Senate Estimates Hearing, we learned that 3,500 people had accessed a vape from a pharmacy without a prescription, just in October.

Kristen, Melbourne: I can still get vapes at my local convenience store, but I thought that was ending. What’s the go?

Vapes are like many other illegal substances – people are still managing to access them, and the reforms have only come into effect very recently.

But any business – like tobacconists, vape shops or convenience stores – that are selling vapes are doing so illegally.

That’s something the Government is trying to crack down on. At the start of the year, a different piece of legislation came into effect which banned the importation of disposable vapes. Since then, nearly six million vapes have been seized by authorities.

This is one of the top questions we got from our audience. If you’re reading this and you want to quit, there are a few different places you can go to get support:

Quitting anything is often not a linear process. People will often experience challenges like cravings, mood swings and restlessness. That is all normal when trying to quit, and it’s about managing those symptoms using these support services. And remember, it’s okay if it takes a few tries to be completely vape-free.