Year 10 students smoking and vaping less

ASH have released their annual survey of Year 10 students. They found:

• Only 1.2% smoked daily (down from 16% in 1999)
• 8.7% vaped daily (down from 10% in 2023)
• Regular smoking rate is 2.8%, down from 28% in 1999
• Regular vaping rate is 14.1%, down from 20% in 2021
• 88.3% of Year 10 students have never tried smoking (was only 32% in 1999)
• 34.7% of Year 10 students have never trued vaping (down from 42.7% in 2021)
• Daily smoking rate for Maori students down from 30% in 1999 to 3% in 2024
• Regular smoking rate for Maori students down from 43% in 1999 to 6% in 2024

It is worth noting that smoking and vaping is banned for under 18 year olds, yet we used to have 68% of 14 year olds who had tried smoking. The legal status has not changed since 1999, but policies, tax and social acceptance have. It’s a good reminder that prohibition doesn’t work.