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