MOST TEENAGERS WHO vape had never smoked a cigarette before they took up the habit, new research shows.

The most common age that people started using vapes or other e-cigarette products was 14 years.

The survey, which asked 15 to 16-year-olds about their substance use, was carried out by the TobaccoFree Research Institute of Ireland at TU Dublin for the Department of Health.

Some 76% of e-cigarette users reported never having used traditional cigarettes when they first tried e-cigarettes, while only 0.6% reported that they used them for smoking cessation purposes.

Smoking is at its lowest rate (12%) in 30 years, but reductions are not equal for all students, the survey found.

Almost 13% of 16-year-old girls smoke, a figure which has remained stable for a decade.

Girls also have higher e-cigarette use.

The study also found a significant increase in the use of alternative and emerging tobacco and nicotine products, such as nicotine pouches, moist snuff (snus), heated tobacco products and water pipes.

More than a third (36%) of 16-year-olds had tried at least one nicotine product, and one in five (20%) currently use at least one.

Of all students surveyed, 24% reported that they have tried smoking, 12% are current smokers and 2% smoke daily.

Alcohol

Two thirds of 15 to 16-year-olds surveyed had consumed alcohol in their lifetime, a decrease of 10% from the 2019 figure of 72.6%.

Meanwhile, 28% of students reported having been drunk in their lifetime, a decrease of almost 22% since 2019.

A significant decrease was also found in the number of teenagers who had drank alcohol in the past 30 days.