Electronic cigarettes (vapes) have, in recent years, seen striking uptake among youth and teenagers, owing to the ease of obtaining them and their exaggerated marketing as a less harmful alternative to traditional smoking. As vapes spread ever more widely among young people, risks have emerged that go beyond those of ordinary smoking — most notably the infiltration of drug addiction through the electronic cigarette gateway, after traffickers found insidious ways to distribute narcotics and psychotropic substances via vape devices, which are difficult to detect or spot by families, educational institutions, and regulatory authorities.
Young people and teenagers are the most vulnerable to the risks associated with drug trafficking through electronic cigarettes, given the curiosity, desire for experimentation, susceptibility to peer influence, and limited awareness of health and legal hazards that characterise adolescence — in addition to the belief that using vapes is less dangerous than other means of consumption, and the fact that young people fall into the trap of enticing methods employed by tobacco and electronic cigarette manufacturers through targeted marketing campaigns across multiple social media platforms.
The National Campaign Against Drugs, launched under the slogan