Youth Advocate Warns Caribbean Moving Too Slowly on Teen Vaping Crisis

KINGSTON, Jamaica – As the world observes World No Tobacco Day today, Jamaican youth advocate Natalia Burton is warning that Caribbean governments are failing to keep pace with the growing use of vapes and e-cigarettes among teenagers, despite mounting evidence of the dangers posed to young people.

Young person holding vapesIn an article written in the Barbados Today, Burton, an advocate with the Jamaica Youth Advocacy Network, Healthy Caribbean Coalition Youth and UNICEF, said vaping products have become alarmingly accessible to children across the region.

“In several countries across the Caribbean, a student can leave school in uniform, walk into a nearby shop, or send a quick Instagram message to an online vendor and purchase a vape with little difficulty,” Burton stated.

She argued that many adolescents are being deliberately targeted through appealing flavours and online marketing tactics that disguise the risks associated with nicotine addiction.

“Some are drawn in by flavours like cherry, bubble gum and cotton candy, while others see them promoted online as sleek, harmless or stress-relieving,” she said.

Burton stressed that many young people are unaware that vaping products are not all the same.

“What many young people are not being told is that vapes are not all the same. Some contain nicotine, especially many disposable devices and pod systems, while others are labelled ‘nicotine-free’ or ‘0% nicotine’ but still contain flavours that appeal to children and adolescents,” she explained.

She warned that nicotine exposure during adolescence can have severe long-term consequences.

“Nicotine is highly addictive and can seriously affect young people’s mental health, learning, physical wellbeing and long-term development,” Burton said, adding that even nicotine-free products “can help normalise vaping and make it seem harmless.”

The concerns come under this year’s World No Tobacco Day theme, “Unmasking the appeal – countering nicotine and tobacco addiction.”

Burton said the Caribbean’s tobacco control conversation has remained too heavily focused on traditional cigarettes while a “new nicotine crisis” is emerging among youth.

“For years, conversations around tobacco in the Caribbean have focused heavily on traditional cigarettes and smoking-related diseases in adulthood. But a new nicotine crisis is quietly unfolding among young people, and Caribbean policy is struggling to keep pace with how quickly vaping products are entering youth spaces,” she said.

She also linked the issue to mental health challenges facing Caribbean youth, particularly as World No Tobacco Day coincides with Mental Health Awareness Month.

“Young people across the region are already navigating academic pressure, violence, economic uncertainty, social expectations and mental health struggles,” Burton noted. “Many are turning to vaping, believing it offers comfort, while being exposed to products intentionally designed to keep them addicted.”

Burton pointed to statistics from the World Health Organization showing worrying levels of youth vaping across the region.

According to the WHO’s 2018 Global Youth Tobacco Survey, vaping rates among 13- to 15-year-olds ranged from four per cent in Antigua and Barbuda to 17.2 per cent in Trinidad and Tobago, one of the highest rates in the Caribbean.

In Jamaica, 11.7 per cent of adolescents in that age group were identified as current e-cigarette users in 2018. By 2022, the National Council on Drug Abuse reported that 15 per cent of Jamaican adolescents aged 13 to 15 had used e-cigarettes.

“These are not just statistics,” Burton said. “They represent thousands of Caribbean students being exposed to nicotine addiction during critical stages of brain development.”

She further warned that the marketing strategies used by vape companies are intentionally designed to attract young consumers.

“Across the region, vapes are sold in bright colours and sweet flavours, placed near snacks and sweets in stores, promoted through social media and influencer culture, and often marketed as cleaner or safer alternatives to cigarettes,” she said.

Burton said the health risks go beyond addiction, noting that young users may experience respiratory problems, anxiety, concentration difficulties and mood-related challenges.

“Young people are uniquely vulnerable to nicotine addiction because the brain continues developing until around age 25,” she explained. “Nicotine can interfere with attention, memory, learning and impulse control by altering brain chemistry and affecting areas linked to concentration and emotional regulation.”

She added that vaping aerosols can contain “carcinogens, heavy metals and fine particles linked to inflammation and respiratory illness.”

Despite the growing concerns, Burton argued that legislative responses across the Caribbean have been inconsistent and too slow.

“Most Caricom countries have ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the world’s leading tobacco control treaty. However, implementation across the region remains inconsistent,” she said.

She highlighted Jamaica’s Public Health Tobacco Control Regulations of 2013 as an example of legislation that still leaves significant gaps in areas such as advertising bans and protection from tobacco industry interference.

“While calls have been made for stronger legislation to regulate e-cigarettes and vaping products more comprehensively, progress has been extremely slow while youth use continues rising,” Burton stated.

She is now calling for urgent action by governments, schools, parents and public health agencies.

“We need stronger enforcement against underage sales and penalties for vendors who violate these laws, tighter regulation of vape advertising and online promotion, restrictions on flavours and packaging designed to attract children, and greater public education about the mental and physical harms associated with vaping,” she said.

Burton also urged schools to strengthen prevention and early intervention programmes aimed at students.

Most importantly, she said Caribbean societies must confront what she described as dangerous misinformation surrounding vaping.

“We must actively challenge the misinformation that paints vaping as harmless simply because it looks different from traditional cigarettes,” Burton warned. “Addiction does not become less dangerous because it comes in bright colours or fruity flavours.”

She cautioned that failure to act decisively could have devastating long-term consequences for the region’s youth.

“The tobacco industry is evolving quickly. Caribbean policy and public awareness must evolve faster,” Burton said.

“This World No Tobacco Day, protecting Caribbean youth means looking beyond traditional cigarettes and confronting the growing accessibility and normalisation of nicotine addiction in a new form. If we fail to act now, an entire generation could pay the price for policies that moved too slowly while the industry moved fast.”