Teen vaping is on the rise. Around the world, 16.8% of young people have already tried e-cigarettes, often starting as early as 14 years old. The risks? Nicotine addiction, lung damage, harmful chemicals, and even mental health concerns. Schools are on the frontline to tackle this issue, and now, a new programme called ‘Our Futures Vaping’ is aiming to revolutionise teen vaping prevention in schools.

Why Teen Vaping Prevention is Essential: Reports indicate that one in four teenagers in Australia has experimented with vaping. With the average age of initiation being just 14, the potential harm cannot be ignored. The effects of vaping include:

• Lung injuries caused by chemical exposure
• Higher risk of transitioning to smoking cigarettes
• Possible long-term mental health difficulties

Despite regulatory reforms aiming to restrict vaping to medicinal use, illegal access remains widespread. To address this challenge, schools need prevention tools that are credible, age-appropriate, and accessible.

A New Approach to Teen Vaping Prevention with Digital Lessons: A team of researchers has co-designed an innovative school-based programme called ‘Our Futures Vaping’. This cutting-edge project takes the fight against teen vaping to the classroom, with an engaging digital platform tailored to Year 7 and 8 students. It’s more than just a teaching tool; it’s a way to empower students with knowledge, critical thinking skills, and the confidence to say no to vaping.

Co-designed with Students and Teachers: The secret to ‘Our Futures Vaping’ lies in its unique development process. Built collaboratively with 34 teenagers, alongside input from teachers, the programme reflects real-life experiences of students. Every storyline and character was shaped by students to mirror current social pressures and attitudes, ensuring the content feels authentic.

Teachers, with an average of 17 years of classroom experience, also played an integral role. They helped fine-tune the lessons to align with educational standards while addressing challenges like class time limitations and technology access.

What Makes ‘Our Futures Vaping’ Stand Out?: The programme doesn’t just tell students to avoid vaping. Instead, it immerses them in interactive digital lessons designed to engage and educate:

• Cartoon Narratives with Real-Life Scenarios

Students learn the risks of vaping through relatable storylines.

• Interactive Quizzes and Challenges

These enhance understanding and boost participation.

• Tasting Success with Peer-Led Storytelling

Characters in the lessons show the importance of resisting peer pressure.

Each session lasts around 40 minutes, blending online resources with optional print materials for flexibility. Teachers don’t require any training to use it, and everything is easily accessible through a dedicated online dashboard.

Feedback Shaping the Future: During user testing with 37 students and 13 teachers, the programme received overwhelmingly positive reactions. Here’s what stood out:

• Students rated the lessons highly, saying they were informative, realistic, and engaging.
• Teachers valued its curriculum alignment and flexible format.
• Suggestions from students led to practical improvements, including more diversity in characters, relatable struggles in quitting vaping, and a better balance between text and visuals.

These revisions helped create a well-rounded final version of ‘Our Futures Vaping’, ensuring it resonates with both teens and educators.

The Study’s Key Findings: The rigorous testing process has proven that this new programme is not only functional but impactful. Here’s what makes ‘Our Futures Vaping’ a strong contender in the fight against teen vaping:

• Students displayed improved understanding of vaping risks.
• The interactive content kept students engaged and attentive.
• Teachers reported higher levels of participation compared to traditional lessons on health education.

Why Digital Innovation Matters: The beauty of digital lessons lies in their scalability. Unlike one-off lectures or assemblies, ‘Our Futures Vaping’ provides consistent, evidence-based education across classrooms. It also ensures that all students, regardless of their prior exposure to vaping education, benefit from the same high-quality resources.

By incorporating peer-led storytelling and social influence models, the programme boosts its effectiveness in shaping positive behaviours. It’s tailored for the adolescent mindset, bridging the gap between traditional health education and the digital world teens live in.

Be Part of the Solution: The rise in teen vaping can feel overwhelming, but tools like ‘Our Futures Vaping’ offer a glimmer of hope for educators and parents. Early prevention and education can equip young people with the ability to make smarter, healthier choices.

Schools now have the opportunity to implement a programme that not only educates but engages students in a way that sticks with them. By prioritising Teen Vaping Prevention in Schools, we can help shift the narrative and empower the next generation to say no to vaping.

Are you ready to take steps in making a difference? Share this information with schools and educators in your network, and help spread the word about this life-changing initiative. (Source: WRD News)

Also see Vaping Crisis Resource Sheet and Not Even Once – Clearing the Air

The AFL Illicit Drugs Policy finds itself at a crossroads that could define the integrity of Australian sport for generations to come. With Sport Integrity Australia’s chief executive David Sharpe warning that “all Australian sport has reached a crossroad in dealing with illicit drug use, player mental health and wellbeing and criminal infiltration of sport,” the spotlight has never burned brighter on the AFL’s controversial “three strikes” illicit drug policy.

The Numbers Don’t Lie – But They Tell a Troubling Story

The AFL’s own figures paint a picture that would make any statistician raise an eyebrow. In 2013, out of 1,998 tests conducted, just 15 players tested positive to illicit substances – a detection rate of merely 0.75%. AFL General Manager Mark Evans declared this policy “continued to be effective,” but the mathematics tell a different tale entirely.

Consider this sobering reality: with an estimated 5-10 tests per player annually, a player using illicit substances faces roughly a 1 in 10,000 chance of being detected before facing suspension. That’s not deterrence – that’s a statistical lottery where the odds overwhelmingly favour continued drug use.

When Protection Becomes Permission

The AFL Illicit Drugs Policy, operational since 2005, runs parallel to the World Anti-Doping Authority protocols but operates under vastly different principles. Where WADA focuses on immediate consequences and fair competition, the AFL’s approach relies on a graduated response system that, in practice, creates an almost insurmountable barrier to meaningful intervention.

Under the current system, a player must test positive three separate times before facing serious sanctions. The first detection brings a £5,000 fine and counselling. The second makes their name public with a four-match suspension. Only the third triggers a 12-match suspension that could threaten their career.

But here’s the mathematical reality that makes this policy more fiction than deterrent: even with consistent drug use over a decade, a player tested 10 times annually has less than a 1% chance of reaching that crucial third strike.

The Duty of Care Dilemma

Sporting organisations have both legal and ethical responsibilities to protect their athletes’ health and safety. This duty of care extends beyond simply having policies on paper – it requires those policies to be effective in practice.

Early intervention has consistently proven more protective against harmful drug use than attempting to minimise damage after serious harm has already occurred. Yet the AFL’s current system, with its extraordinarily low detection rates, effectively nullifies the benefits of early identification and intervention.

Dr Peter Harcourt, AFL Medical Director, noted that most players detected in 2013 “reported they accessed illicit substances opportunistically while socialising with friendship groups outside their clubs… almost always after significant alcohol consumption.” This insight suggests that many instances of drug use are spontaneous rather than systematic – making the argument for robust, frequent testing even more compelling.

Alternative Models: Learning from Success

The solution isn’t rocket science – it’s basic probability theory applied with purpose. Hair testing, which can detect drug use for up to three months after consumption, represents a game-changing alternative to current urine testing protocols.

Consider these dramatically different outcomes:

• Current system: With 10 tests per year at 0.75% detection rate, a player faces minimal risk
• Enhanced system: Including hair testing at 25% frequency with 10 annual tests pushes cumulative detection probability above 95% within a decade
• Robust system: Hair testing at 50% frequency virtually guarantees detection within two years

The NRL and international sporting bodies have already demonstrated that higher detection rates don’t destroy sport – they protect it.

Beyond Numbers: The Human Cost

The AFL Players’ Association’s acting CEO Ian Prendergast proudly declared theirs “the most developed illicit drug policy in world sport,” emphasising the medical approach to drug use. Yet development without effectiveness is merely elaborate window dressing.

Luke Ball, AFLPA President, acknowledged that “drugs are a very real issue within society, and that players are not immune to this.” This recognition makes the policy’s ineffectiveness all the more troubling. If players aren’t immune to societal drug issues, they deserve protection systems that actually work.

The Integrity Imperative

Elite sport exists in a unique space where athletes serve as role models for countless young Australians. The integrity of competition, the health of players, and the trust of fans all depend on robust, effective policies that don’t just look good in press releases but deliver real protection.

The current AFL approach – whether by design or accident – creates a system where illicit drug use carries virtually no meaningful risk of detection or consequence. This isn’t player welfare; it’s institutionalised negligence dressed up in medical terminology.

Time for Real Change

Sport Integrity Australia’s David Sharpe identified this crossroads moment for Australian sport. The AFL has an opportunity to lead by example, implementing reforms that other codes could follow:

1. Abandon the “three strikes” policy – the most cost-effective reform that immediately increases accountability
2. Introduce comprehensive hair testing – extending detection windows from days to months
3. Increase testing frequency – making regular use genuinely unsustainable
4. Implement immediate, meaningful consequences – ensuring early intervention actually occurs early

The Bottom Line

AFL CEO Andrew Dillon faces a defining moment for his leadership and his sport. The choice is clear: continue with a policy that sounds progressive but protects no one, or implement changes that prioritise genuine player welfare and sporting integrity.

The mathematics are unforgiving, the duty of care is unambiguous, and the time for action is now. Australian sport has indeed reached a crossroads – and it’s time to choose the path that leads to real protection, not statistical sleight of hand.

The AFL illicit drugs policy isn’t protecting players – it’s protecting the problem. For the sake of the players, the clubs, and the millions of Australians who look to AFL stars as role models, it’s time to change the game plan entirely.

Because when the house odds are rigged against detection, everyone loses – except the drugs.

(Source: WRD News)

Parenting today means guiding children through a maze of pro-pot propaganda and surface-level harm reduction messages, all while facing real risks linked to family history. The parental influence on addiction, substance use, and health choices has never been more crucial. We will explore how parents can empower their children against addiction, drawing on research, real-world stats, and expert advice.

Let’s start with some good news and understand that children, their child, your child, our children have a number of Human Rights enshrined in United Nations Conventions, and one of those Conventions is Article 33 of the Rights of the Child, and one every parent/guardian should know, hold dear and wield, when it comes to protecting their children.

As you continue through this article keep this in the forefront of your thinking in how this can help you, your family and community be better at delaying or more importantly, denying uptake of potential, health and well-being destroying substances. 

Why Parental Influence on Addiction Matters

You might hear everywhere that “all teens experiment with alcohol or drugs”. But the data tells a different story. According to the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, parental beliefs and conversations directly impact young people’s substance choices—even into college. Teens who understand their parents have a zero-tolerance policy are less likely to drink, both in high school and beyond.

Dr Maria Rahmandar, medical director at Lurie Children’s Hospital, puts it clearly: 

“Youth are less likely to use alcohol and other substances when their parents have the expectation that they won’t and communicate this expectation to their children.”

The Dalgarno Institute emphasizes that the belief that drug use is wrong is the most significant protective factor against substance use. Research from the University of Illinois shows that every ‘unit’ increase in this belief raises the likelihood of abstinence by 39% for 8th graders, 50% for 10th graders, and 53% for 12th graders.

Declining Rates Challenge Old Myths

There’s a stubborn myth that underage drinking is universal. Here’s the truth:

• 2021: 54.1% of high school seniors had ever used alcohol; only 25.8% had done so in the last 30 days.
• 1978: A huge 93.1% of seniors reported ever drinking; 72.1% had drunk alcohol in the past month.

This decline aligns with the Dalgarno Institute’s advocacy for evidence-based prevention strategies that delay or deny the uptake of alcohol and drugs. Effective drug education in schools, for example, has been shown to delay drug uptake by two years, providing a critical window for intervention.

The Role of Genetics and Family History

While parental guidance matters, genetics, or better stated ‘epigenetics’ play a role too. Dr Marc Schuckit (University of San Diego) reports genetics factors can add up to  60% of a person’s risk for developing alcohol use disorder. However, it’s vital to note that  there is  no single “alcoholism or drug addiction gene”.  It is what we like to refer to as a ‘recipe’.

The nature and nurture debate around development was settled well over a decade ago. It is not nature or nurture alone that determine developmental outcomes, but rather a unique mix – one that the Dalgarno Institute calls the R.E.C.I.P.E. 

The Epigenome is the ‘coating’, if you like, on the DNA, it is not a ‘gene’ per se, but there is a vast amount of data in this space that can influence how genes express themselves. This is where the above RECIPE can influence the epigenome as much as the epigenome has capacity to influence the recipe. In short, ‘pre-dispositions’ can be created, and can be amended, but it is all found in the mix of the above factors. (see Humpty Dumpty Dilemma Resiliency Project)

Framing it Honestly, Authentically, but not Romantically!

Honesty, not secrecy, is key. Jessica Lahey, author of The Addiction Inoculation, shared with her kids her own battles with alcohol:

“I told them I would not be drinking alcohol anymore because I can’t control it, and in order to be the best mom I could be for them, I had to stop.”

Children sense when things are hidden or “off”. Explaining the family history in an age-appropriate way helps them make sense of their world. Michael Roeske, psychologist and director at Newport Healthcare, supports this approach. “If you’re not honest,” he says, “kids fill in the gaps themselves, often with worse explanations than reality. Honesty gives them a framework for understanding addiction as a health issue.” 

Of course, as mentioned previously, this bio-behavioural disorder is about avoiding – preventing this non-communicable dis-ease through behavioural decisions and acts that stop or revert from the behaviours causing the health harms. This must never be lost in the conversation around this issue. Avoiding stigmatising people is important, but calling bad decisions out in view or pointing and empowering toward best practice is a key part of preventative health. 

To state the obvious, prevention is far more effective than cure. By focusing on delaying or denying substance use, families can significantly reduce the risk of addiction, even in the presence of genetic predispositions.

Parental Influence on Addiction Prevention Starts Early

Substance use disorder rarely appears out of nowhere in adulthood. Most people with these issues start as teens. The research is unanimous:

• The longer a child delays their first drink or experiment, the lower their chance of developing addiction.
• Dr Rahmandar highlights, “The longer you can delay, the lower your risk.”
• The Dalgarno Institute also advocates for a unified, uncompromised message in drug education: ‘Don’t uptake or quit.’ 

This means the small everyday choices and conversations you have matter hugely. Waiting until college to talk about substance use is already too late.

Environmental and Lifestyle Risk Factors

RiskThere are far more important risk factors to focus on than a default referral to ‘genetics’  What has been labeled as Adverse Childhood Experiences is a very significant factor in potential substance use engagement.

If you look closely at the above categories you can see how substance use is not only a key ACE in it’s own right, but can influence every other ACE in the spectrum. That is how pervasive the harms of substance use are 

Lahey suggests picturing risk and protection as a balance scale:

• Risk factors: Family history, trauma, untreated mental illness, substance-friendly environments.
• Protective factors: Mental health support, strong family connections, meaningful hobbies, supportive schools.

For higher-risk families, you need extra “weights” on the protective side. The more risk, the more robust your protections should be. The community-wide efforts are important, such as Iceland’s successful anti-drug strategy, which relies on clear, consistent messaging and robust protective factors to reduce youth drug use.

The Conversation With the Kids – What May That Look Like?

Start Open Conversations Early

The best prevention starts with honest, ongoing conversation. Begin before your child faces peer pressure. Keep your tone calm, factual, and supportive.

• Ask what they’ve heard at school or online about drugs and alcohol.
• Share family history in simple, age-appropriate terms. 
• Make clear your expectations, with warmth not threat.

Example Script 

“We have people in our family who’ve struggled with alcohol. That means we all have to be really careful, because our bodies might respond differently. If you’re curious or worried, you can always ask me about it.”

Don’t Gloss Over Reality

Don’t hide struggles or make up stories about absent relatives or “illness”. Kids notice tension, whispered conversations, or absent family members. Explaining substance use disorders as a bio-behavioural health condition can help not only with avoiding stigma but also completely deglamorise and strip bare the real cost and harms of substance use. 

Empowering Choices and Building Life Skills

Dr Rahmandar notes, “You cannot develop a substance use disorder unless you are exposed to substances in the first place.” Choice matters. Kids with higher genetic risk can sometimes escape the cycle by simply never starting, or starting much later than peers. Again, we cannot overemphasise the need for all of the community to be on the same page when it comes to substance use. Actors in the community who continue to demand their ‘liberty’ to use psychotropic toxins that bring harm not only to themselves, but on both passive and active levels, negatively impact communities, families and children, must be called out. 

Equip Kids With Skills

1. Refusal Skills: Practise saying “no” using real-world examples and role-play. A person’s NO is the most powerful protective weapon in their tool kit of resilience – teach them how to use it, and help them not give it up when they are in toxic coercive or seductive environments.
2. Exit Strategies: Pre-plan texts or code words they can use if they need to leave an uncomfortable situation.
3. Safe Environments: Monitor social circles. It’s important to know who your kids friends are, but also to know about their family. You become the instigator of social events and make your home ‘the safe space’. Of course, try to avoid open suspicion of people, be discerning, ask careful questions and always balance this with trust.
4. Healthy Activities: Sports, arts, volunteering, and meaningful hobbies absorb time and fill key social and emotional needs.

Your Role as a Parent Never Ends

Some parents worry that if their child experiments or struggles with substance use, that  they’ve “failed”. That’s not true. Michael Roeske advises, “It is this ongoing effort that is most important.” Recovery and resilience are built with many small pieces, not single big interventions.

Lahey compares recovery to a 100-piece puzzle. Piece 100 won’t fall into place unless pieces two, 17, 72, and 99 are all there. Your role is to keep putting down puzzle pieces, even if you can’t see the end result. The point is that it’s the consistent and uncompromising building of best practice prevention and resilience capacities into your child’s environment that will help equip them to come up and out of that dysfunctional arena.

Framing Addiction Like Any Other Health Issue

Parents often talk to kids about family risks for diabetes or heart disease. Substance use disorder is no different. “If they know they are predisposed to alcohol use disorder, that’s another piece of essential information they need to make informed decisions,” says Lahey.

Real-World Prevention Works

Data from schools and communities around the world show early prevention works, especially when parents, schools, and communities send unified, evidence-based messages. Dalgarno Institute argues for a prevention-first approach, criticising strategies that seem to normalise or downplay drug risks (like pill testing at festivals or drug consumption rooms).

“Empowering and equipping the emerging generation to exercise the best choice of ‘NO’ should be the strongest incentive in all messaging.” – Shane Varcoe, Executive Director, Dalgarno Institute

The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission puts it bluntly:

“The risk and harm posed by illicit drugs to the Australian community is ever-growing, which underscores the need for law enforcement and health agencies to work collaboratively to combat both the supply and demand for illicit drugs.”

Why Prevention Works

• No safe level for young brains: Science shows there is no safe level of drug use for developing brains (up to 25–32 years old).
• Protective beliefs: University of Illinois research proved that every “unit” increase in the belief that drug use is wrong raises the chance of abstinence by:

o   39% (8th graders)

o   50% (10th graders)

o   53% (12th graders)

• Economic impact: Every $1 spent on prevention saves $18 in future community costs.

The Collaborative Community Contagion: Parents, Schools, and Community Working Together

Schools cannot do this work alone. The Icelandic model of drug prevention, which saw a steep drop in youth drug use, relies on community-wide effort and clear, consistent messaging. One message – One focus – One Voice in all key community demographics. Both good and bad contagions work the same. More is ‘caught’ than taught – Kids are watching what is being not just spoken, but more importantly, what is being modelled. If the ‘talk’ of the community is stay away, but the ‘walk’ of the community is ‘do what you like when you’re 18’, then the ‘message’ being delivered creates cognitive dissonance in the child and they can all too often go the path of least resistance. 

The above, right here, is the single biggest problem. 

If the ‘grown ups’ want to engage with substance irresponsibly and use their ‘adult’ status to do so, then the message to the emerging adult – the child – is, “I can ‘act like an adult now’ by using this ‘grown up’ play thing”. The personal desire of the adult  then trumps the child’s well-being. This egocentricity is a tough one to combat on a societal level, but it can be done in micro-environments, like your family, friends, and even community settings. 

One data set reveals (and disappointingly  that only 44% of Australian students aged 12–17 received more than one lesson on AOD  last year. This needs to and can change with AOD (Alcohol & Other Drug) Education being couched in health and human development studies with sound sociological and anthropological academic underpinnings that build resilience. 

For example the Dalgarno Institute and its coalition of educators has not only incursions but curriculum that can service this need for every year level from grade 5 in primary school up to the end of high school. Along with sporting club, community and family education sessions, an immersion protocol can be engaged to help develop a resilient student who has no need or desire to engage in substance use.

This can all help parents and families add to their resilience building toolkit and any schooling gaps can be filled by families who make substance education part of everyday life.

Practical Steps to Leverage Parental Influence on Addiction

1. Open Communication: Start early, keep it honest and ongoing. 
2. Encourage Healthy Activities: Support sports, arts, volunteering. 
3. Set Firm Family Rules: Be clear about your expectations on substance use. 
4. Teach Refusal & Exit Skills: Prepare kids for real-life scenarios. 
5. Consistently Enforce Consequences: Be fair, predictable, and calm. 
6. Stay Connected: Stay interested in your child’s friends and routines. 
7. Prioritise Sleep: Poor sleep increases risky choices. 
8. Model Behavior: Demonstrate healthy habits and transparent communication about family risks. 
9. Spot Early Warnings: Address changes in mood or activity promptly.

Facing Substance Normalisation with Confidence

The era of pro-cannabis messaging and normalised substance use can feel overwhelming for parents. However, evidence shows that parental influence on addiction has a significant and measurable impact. By staying present, honest, and proactive, you can help protect your child—even if there’s a family history of addiction. 

Prevention isn’t just possible; it’s highly effective.

The Dalgarno Institute highlights the importance of prevention-first approaches that focus on reducing demand and prioritising primary prevention. They caution against strategies that may unintentionally normalise or downplay the risks of drug use, such as pill testing at festivals, drug consumption sites that do not lead to recovery and messaging that suggests drug use is ‘manageable’ and that harms can be dealt with. 

Strengthening your family’s protective factors and building resilience through community prevention programmes and professional advice can provide a strong foundation for a substance-free future. Consistent parental involvement remains the most powerful tool in safeguarding your child. 

The Dalgarno Institute (WRD News)

Understanding Youth Vaping and Breathing Issues

We all know smoking can damage your lungs. But could vaping harm your breathing too? To find out, researchers surveyed over 39,000 young people aged 16–19 across the US, Canada, and England in 2020–2021.

The Study in a Nutshell

• Most respondents had never vaped (64%) or smoked (70%).
• 28% reported breathing issues like coughing, breathlessness, chest pain, phlegm, or wheezing in the past week.
• Young people who only vaped were more likely to have breathing issues than those who had never smoked or vaped.
• Vaping was tied to similar odds of breathing issues as smoking.
• Those who both smoked and vaped had the highest risk of symptoms.

“The more frequently participants vaped, the higher their likelihood of breathing issues,” the researchers found.

How Vaping Frequency Affects Lungs

One important finding is that frequency makes a big difference:

• Young people who vaped more than 20 days a month were twice as likely as never-users to report symptoms.
• Every extra day of vaping in the past 30 days slightly increased the odds of breathing issues.

This dose-response trend shines a light on a simple truth—inhaling more vape means more potential risk. Source:  NIHR more WRD News)

Welcome to the handbook that’s here to shake up the substance use narrative: 'Prevention & Demand Reduction: Denying or Delaying Substance Use in Communities – An Evidence-Based Best Practice Guide'. This is a call to action against the uninspired acceptance of drug use as a rite of passage.

In a society that often whispers ‘yes’ in the ears of our youth, it’s time we crank up the volume on the ‘no’. Not a finger-wagging, fun-spoiling ‘no’, but an empowering, choice-driven ‘no’ that opens the door to health and potential. This guide arms you with evidence-based practices that are as solid as they are effective. It’s about equipping communities with the facts and tools they need to makechoices that favour well-being over substance use. We’re here to dismantle the myth that drug experimentation is inevitable. With clear, evidence-backed strategies, we aim to assist all who care for best practice health and well-being to build their resilient communities that don't just survive but thrive without the ‘white-anting’ and even wrecking ball of substance use. So, let’s stop normalising what should never be ‘normal’ and start prioritising health, informed choices,and a future unfettered by dependency.

Join us as we push back against the tide of drug trivialisation, normalisation with sound evidence, wisdom, and a touch of common sense. Let’s make the protective, resilience empowering of ‘no’ the most powerful word in our community’s vocabulary.

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