THIS instalment of my column can easily be best described by the famous Buzz Lightyear line in the original Toy Story movie – ‘I don’t believe that man’s ever been to medical school’.

I definitely haven’t, but I have to be honest; vaping gets up my nose.

It’s an increasing issue amongst our young people in Hervey Bay, in schools and shopping centres, and there appears to be virtually no consideration for the unknown impacts on themselves or others.

I don’t want to be walking behind you, inhaling your second hand boysenberry juice or whatever it is. Enough already.

Is this the vaping generation, and how have e-cigarettes made it into the hands of children?Apart from oxygen and medications, I’m not aware of anything that makes perfectly good sense to inhale into your lungs.

According to the Qld Government, you can’t vape anywhere smoking is banned, and it’s illegal to sell vapes to anybody under 18.

I must be living in a parallel universe.

Last year Queensland Poisons Information Centre got calls about more than 80 children exposed to e-cigarette liquid or fumes, with almost a quarter referred to hospital.

The John Hopkins School of Medicine acknowledges that there are many unknowns about vaping, including what chemicals make up the vapour and how they affect physical health over the long term.

Similarly, both e-cigarettes and regular cigarettes contain nicotine, which research suggests may be as addictive as heroin and cocaine.

Have we simply not learned from the mistakes of the past?

I personally know parents who let their teenage kids vape, and social media is rife with it like it’s the latest cool thing to do.

How long will it be until we wake up to this? Surely we cannot be that naïve?

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