A new study from Western University in London, Ont., shows that university students who were regularly vaping wanted to cut back after learning about the threat the habit could pose to their health.
The study was conducted by PhD candidate Babac Salmani and health sciences professor Harry Prapavessis.
It involved showing undergraduate students, most of whom were regular vapers, an eight-minute video featuring healthcare professionals and people who used to vape talking about research and risks.
The control group for the study watched a video about nutrition instead.
“Immediately after watching the intervention, they’re like ‘I want to stop,'” said Salmani. “That’s really important to us is the consistency in that intention. It maintained a level of strength in terms of people wanting to stop vaping.”
Vaping is popular among youth, with Statistics Canada reporting 29 per cent of Canadians aged 15 to 19 and roughly half of those between 20 and 24 have tried it.