Parent group warns of youth vaping ‘epidemic’, urges national crackdown

Parent advocate Paula-Anne Moore has joined calls for a sweeping national education strategy and tighter state enforcement to tackle a “widespread” surge in youth vaping and marijuana use, after new findings suggested underage students can easily buy vaping products from the shops.

Moore, spokesperson and coordinator for the Group of Concerned Parents of Barbados, said the issue had reached a critical point, particularly as schools prepare to close for the summer. Her comment follows disclosures by Nicolette Williams, a child and adolescent psychotherapist at Verdun House, that school-based research found minors were frequently able to access vapes despite age restrictions.

“This is an alarm bell which needs a comprehensive formal education strategy,” Moore said. “It is particularly timely to start these public service announcements regarding vaping as exams wind down, as children have more ‘idle’ hands and as they relax and enjoy themselves during the long summer months.”

Vaping had been visible among increasingly young children for years, Moore said, recalling her own alarm at seeing 13-year-olds using devices openly in public — concerns she raised at parent-teacher association meetings at the time.

She pointed to a persistent misconception among families that vaping is a safer alternative to smoking, warning that the reality may be more harmful, particularly for developing bodies. The near-odourless nature of vapes, she added, makes detection by parents significantly more difficult than traditional cigarettes.

“Since vapes are sold as a ‘safe’ alternative to cigarettes, many of us are unaware that due to the concentrated content of nicotine in some vapes, they can be even more health-hazardous than regular cigarettes,” Moore said. “Such an early, potent intake while a young body is still developing may have even more deleterious effects on our children’s long-term health.”

She accused manufacturers of deliberately targeting young consumers through design and marketing.

“Vapes marketing specifically targeting the youth via the colour of the device, flavours, and other fun designs, and easy accessibility driving its popularity are collectively unconscionable. Children do not have the maturity to understand—or care about—what could be permanent damage to their health. This is why government regulation and enforcement is key to protecting them.”

The Verdun House findings, which suggested that some retailers were not enforcing age restrictions, raise questions about the effectiveness of existing laws, Moore said.

“This is a shocking disclosure. How widespread is this? Even if this access isn’t widespread, this revelation suggests that there appears to be lax regulation and enforcement of any prohibition against selling vapes to children under 16,” she said, calling for greater transparency to enable coordination between parents, educators and businesses.

Moore also urged that the debate be widened beyond vaping to include what she described as the “overwhelming” prevalence of marijuana use across the island, arguing that its visibility in public spaces risks normalising substance use for children.

Citing expert research, she warned of the potential harm from secondhand exposure, particularly for adolescents and infants.

“Experts have found marijuana’s use, even via secondhand inhalation, can damage—perhaps permanently—developing teen brains in that critical stage of development,” she said. “Parents and guardians modelling the right behaviour regarding appropriate use of substances, including vapes, ganja, and alcohol in the home and community, is also crucial. Children imitate what they see.”

While commending Verdun House for reaching six secondary schools and 2 000 students through its outreach, Moore argued that interventions must begin earlier, including at primary level and during the transition to secondary school.

Framing substance use as part of a wider set of social challenges — from emotional dysregulation to crime — she called for a coordinated, sustained national response.

“Our children are faced with many influences, too many negatives. They need our vigilant guidance. Only a broad, long-term, persistent, and consistent national response with targeted communication and education can arrest the incidence of vaping, marijuana, and other substance use by our children.”

(RR)