'Predatory and purposeful ploy' hitting children as young as eight

The cloud has been hovering inside the Headspace Ballarat foyer and is set to also infiltrate Federation University's Mount Helen campus for Orientation Week, Australian Catholic University's health studies faculty, and Stockland Wendouree shopping centre.

Sitting nearby at Headspace are cleaning products, including bleach, that appear like they might have been used to clean up the cloud's installation. Then you realise these products, including rat bait and nail polish remover, are typical ingredients in vape liquids.

"Flavours, colours and even fairies and unicorns on the packet - they're not for the 65-year-old truckie who's been smoking for 40 years to get off cigarettes," VicHealth chief executive Sandro Demaio said.

"This is very much focused on young people - as young as nine, 10, 11 - and they're really trying to do everything they can to get a new generation as lifelong users."

Dr Demaio said products are designed to be smuggled into school looking like highlighters or make-up pens.

He said the cloud sculpture was designed to be a conversation starter and educational tool that vapes were "not benign products" and contain highly addictive substances with more than 200 toxic chemicals.

Dr Demaio said school teachers and community leaders across the state continued to impress on him how fast vaping had become the single biggest issue facing young people.

Vaping has become part of routine screening at youth mental health organisation Headspace Ballarat with staff specifically asking the question of young people who come through their doors.

Headspace Ballarat community development and youth engagement officer Andy Penny said there was such a strong lure in vapes. Mr Penny said even though there was a strong focus on the physical issues of vaping, it was also important to recognise the mental toll and need for greater education.

"Young people are asking us about use and they're asking us for support," Mr Penny said. "It's great we have the support of Ballarat Community Health for young people, too."

"I see our job a bit as myth-busters as well - vaping is in public spaces, and there are concerns about safety in public."

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Federal health reforms from March 1 will continue to tighten imports flooding Australian borders.

In short, the reforms stamped out the import of disposable vapes into Australia from January 1, 2024, and from March 1, the import of all non-therapeutic vapes will be barred.

Dr Demaio, who welcomed the laws, said this was about protecting young people by limiting supply and trying to curb the push through social media.

Within five years, the number of teenagers who vape had risen from one in 100 to one in seven becoming regular e-cigarette users, federal health data released in June 2023 showed.

A single disposable vape can contain as much nicotine as 50 traditional cigarettes, according to Ballarat Community Health, and only cost about $5.

BCH has also detailed the impacts to adolescent brain development, including memory and concentration.

Anecdotally, The Courier has been hearing about students sneaking puffs on school buses and in classrooms.

READ MORE: Sucked in by savvy marketing, clouding the big issue our teenagers are inhaling

VicHealth has launched a mass media awareness campaign and in two months' time will start Australia's largest peer-to-peer support project.

He said it was a vital community responsibility to make sure it did not take 70 years, like the state's anti-smoking campaigns, "to put the toxic genie back in the bottle".

VicHealth has partnered with City of Ballarat and Ballarat Community Health to bring the cloud sculpture to this city.

Federation University chief learner experience officer Samantha Bartlett, whose team focuses on student well-being, said there had been a distinct shift in young people's habits across the university's regional campuses.

"We don't really see cigarette butts as much, but we do see students vaping," Ms Bartlett said.

"This is our chance to raise awareness with the next generation when all our new students come in for orientation," Ms Bartlett said.

"We are planning to display this in our cafe where there is high traffic and it will be very noticeable."