Vapes are toxic. Their detection in schools is a smart first step

Ever since smoking was banned in many public places, in the UAE and around the world, an argument frequently made by defenders of vaping is that it is not as bad.

Countless people, including adolescents, fall into this trap without examining the complete picture and weighing the risks. For millions of school pupils in any country, this line of reasoning – that vapes are not as bad as cigarettes, which are combustible and packed with chemicals such as tar and carbon monoxide – seem to lend vapes (laden with the highly addictive drug nicotine) an aura of relative acceptability, in health terms.

Fortunately, schools in the UAE are having none of it, with several of them installing vaping detection systems in washrooms, to try to nip the vape menace in the bud. Schools are right to take a strong line against cigarettes and e-cigarettes. Most people can agree that children should not be exposed to nicotine.

Vape advocates seem to forget that nicotine itself is toxic, increases blood pressure and is associated with several well-established health risks that are especially harmful for the developing brains of young people. The complete adverse effects of vaping are not fully known yet – vapes only entered the global market in the early 2000s. Yet research from the Johns Hopkins University on vape ingredients in 2021 revealed that some products included a pesticide.

Even if vaping is less harmful than smoking, the fact remains that for youngsters – who are not necessarily weaning off cigarettes, as adults might be – starting on vapes is nothing but harm, and utterly avoidable.

Dr Fadi Baladi, medical director at Burjeel Day Surgery Centre in Abu Dhabi, told The National in 2019: “I treat young people every other day, aged 14-21, for vaping-related lung conditions. There is an addiction potential in all young people, and vaping has become a dangerous sub-culture."

Six years later that sub-culture still very much exists, and is even more in the mainstream. And for sellers of these products, there are profits to be made. Companies that stock vapes take advantage of their younger clientele, using marketing ploys such as bright colourful packaging, and an assortment of artificial flavours, meant to appeal to the youth.

Apart from the duty of parents to educate their children (beyond merely rebuking them) on the harmful long-term effects of habits picked up when they're young, the challenge of addressing an addictive sub-culture can be tackled in a few ways in schools, as many are already doing. At Gems Education, a private school operator, for example, there are follow-up education sessions with counsellors to support them in quitting vaping.

Along with such programmes already under way, there could be merit in including workshops on withstanding peer pressure – there usually is an element of that when it comes to teenagers. Awareness campaigns could even include testimonies from former smokers who can act as guides and mentors, along with friendly interactions with doctors, lung specialists and counsellors.

Installing sensors is a sensible attempt to curb vaping in school. But a wider approach is warranted if the goal is to not just eliminate it on premises, where there are alarms fitted on ceilings, but even outside the purview of school authorities. Broader campaigns that aim to educate teenagers about the effect on their lungs and other organs of inhaling nicotine can be a way to appeal to the better sense that exists in most youngsters. It could put them on a healthier path for good, and not just while teachers or parents are watching.