Uncloud anti-vaping campaign

The Canberra Times

Young Australians share their stories of vaping addiction as part of a new campaign called Uncloud, funded by the Minderoo Foundation.

Transcript

00:00 When nicotine addiction gets its claws into you, they get in pretty deep.

00:07 Vaping literally only takes one or two hits and you're in it.

00:11 Addiction makes money and it'll be too late by the time people are warned about it.

00:16 Something needs to happen now and I think it just needs to be us doing it ourselves.

00:25 I'm 20 and I started vaping when I was 17.

00:29 I started vaping when I was 20.

00:30 14.

00:31 17.

00:32 My brother started vaping at 12.

00:34 I'm trying to quit and I know it's not like a linear thing.

00:36 I started vaping when I was 17.

00:39 And I'd probably hit it like a hundred times a day at least.

00:41 It was like an instant hit for me.

00:43 The cartoons, the imagery.

00:44 Bright colours.

00:45 Flashing lights.

00:46 Enticing pictures and packaging.

00:48 Everyone's comparing flavours.

00:49 Blackberry, cherry.

00:50 You know, strawberry, mango.

00:51 Chocolate.

00:52 Fried chicken.

00:53 Yeah, I went back to Fiji for two months to stop vaping.

00:59 When I came back, being around it, seeing it, just I couldn't hold it.

01:03 I'm broke.

01:04 When I don't have my vape, I just go crazy.

01:08 I don't know, I flip my whole house looking for it.

01:11 Yeah, just panicking I guess.

01:18 So I played soccer all my life.

01:20 Before I got out of the car for training, I'd have a puff.

01:24 I feel like you're letting down your team because you're not looking after your health.

01:33 It just gets more and more and more appealing to kids.

01:36 After school a lot of kids will go to like convenience stores to buy lollies or snacks

01:40 and then there's vapes right there as well.

01:42 So it's kind of a segue to it.

01:44 Younger people are vulnerable.

01:46 It's quite taboo, honestly, to talk about it.

01:48 And I feel like this is a good way to start that conversation, which is what we want.

01:52 I'm a nurse, so it's really hypocritical of me.

01:56 I'm telling people to look after themselves, but I can't look after myself.

02:00 Vaping has had a really negative influence on me.

02:04 I've just seen it affect my family, my sister vapes as well.

02:08 I see a lot of people struggling.

02:12 Nicotine is so much more addictive than I thought.

02:14 I'm not a vaper and saying no for me, it was definitely a challenge at first, but I have

02:20 those boundaries.

02:21 We don't know how it's going to impact us in the long term.

02:25 Seeing my girlfriend struggle with her vaping addiction has been really, really difficult.

02:31 She's had a lot of symptoms.

02:32 Her mood is changing all the time.

02:34 She's been coughing, but it's really been a journey that I've been trying to support

02:38 her on.

02:40 I wanted to be part of this film just to step in the right direction, I guess.

02:45 Try to warn people.

02:47 We're starting to see more young people who are stepping forward and sharing their stories,

02:51 but we need to take some more serious action.

02:54 Nicotine addiction will die when you stop using it and you tell it to die.

02:57 If you're ready to do that, then you'll succeed, you know?

03:04 Nobody warned us about vaping, so it's our responsibility to warn others.

03:08 If you haven't already started, just don't.

03:11 It's not worth it.

03:12 The best time to stop vaping is your first time.

03:16 I just hope there's more awareness and facts that are getting promoted to everyone because

03:22 there's just no talk about it.

03:25 You save money when you don't vape, but your health matters more.

03:30 It's definitely important that young people have a platform.

03:33 It's up to our generation to sort of tackle this problem because we're the most affected

03:36 by it.

03:44 [Music]

03:47 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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