A survey of 5,493 students in 33 schools in Kent, England, showed that about 10% (562) were using e-cigarettes.
The findings were presented to Kent County Council’s cabinet committee on health reform and public Health on 11 March. Jason Hickson, from Kent’s analysis team, said the sample needed to cover the whole county and cover all age groups, stressing that e-cigarettes are seen as socially more acceptable behaviour than smoking.
Hickson told the committee that its results showed that a third of daily e-cigarette users felt the need to vape every hour, and 27 percent of users believed or knew they were addicted. The majority of e-cigarette products come from corner stores (49%) and e-cigarette specialty stores (36%), and more than three-quarters of respondents prefer fruit flavors.
When it comes to social media platforms that promote vaping products, TikTok was mentioned by 52 percent of respondents. Forty-five percent of respondents said e-cigarettes helped them “calm down and relax,” and 39 percent said they made them feel less anxious. More than half of current e-cigarette users say they don’t want to stop vaping.
The sale of single-use e-cigarettes will be banned in the UK from June. The committee was told that a similar survey would be conducted in 2026 to assess statistical changes after the ban came into effect.
Dr. Anjan Ghosh, Kent County’s director of public health, noted that the next issue to be addressed is nicotine bags. He said that while there have been some gains in anti-smoking, e-cigarettes and nicotine bags have become new areas of challenge.