New research suggests that the increase in vaping across Australia will cost the health system an extra $180 million each year and that’s a conservative figure.

Vaping has been framed as a way to stop smoking tobacco, however it can also be a gateway to taking it up. It’s estimated that 13 per cent of people who vape transition to cigarettes.

The Australian government has called vapes a public health menace and introduced restrictive anti-vaping policies. But are these policies intended to drive positive change giving rise to a dangerous black-market?

Guests:

Professor Louisa Collins, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute

Dr James Martin, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Deakin University

Becky Freeman, Associate Professor of Public Health, Sydney University