NGO Kom op tegen Kanker (Stand up to Cancer) is extending its anti-smoking campaign to vaping, as the use of the e-cigarette is on the rise. On Monday afternoon, Kom op tegen Kanker campaigned against smoking and vaping at a secondary school in Lier, Antwerp province, together with popular influencers and Flemish welfare minister Caroline Gennez.
According to figures from the Flemish Expertise Centre for Alcohol and Other Drugs, a quarter of young people have already vaped. These are figures from the 2022-2023 school year. And vaping is not harmless. Kom op tegen Kanker calls vaping the “gateway to nicotine addiction”.
“This is an industry tactic to breed a new generation of nicotine addicts”
“It’s a bad evolution that more and more young people see vaping as a stepping stone to smoking,” said Kom op tegen Kanker director David Vansteenbrugge. “Among the youngest group of smokers, we see that half of them also vape. So there is a clear link and often a transition from one to the other. This is an industry tactic to breed a new generation of nicotine addicts.” And that is the main reason why the anti-smoking campaign #RIProken by Kom op tegen Kanker is now expanding to vaping.
Preventive policy
At the Sint Ursula Institute in Lier, a large school with 1,500 pupils, there were no afternoon classes on Monday. Instead, a “Stress Factor” festival was organised to raise awareness among pupils against smoking and vaping. Influencers Stien Edlund and Elias Verwilt were there to support the anti-tobacco message, together with Flemish welfare minister Caroline Gennez.
Gennez emphasised that it is worrying that so many young people are vaping. “It’s very dangerous and very addictive and therefore the policy should not only be repressive by banning certain sales of vapes, but also preventive,” she said. “We must ensure that young people do not start vaping.”
