1 in 5 Young Kiwis Vape Every Day - and the Risk No One Warned Them Of

New Zealand has become a "vape nation" — and now there's a generation of young Kiwis who got hooked on nicotine without ever smoking a cigarette. Paddy Gower and journalist Glenn McConnell investigate the vape generation: the 138,000 New Zealanders aged 15 to 24 who vape every day, and the new research raising alarm about where it could lead. Respiratory physician Dr Stuart Jones has already seen destroyed lung tissue in teenagers who started vaping as young as 12 — and warns of a potential wave of lung cancer to come. Australian researchers who reviewed 100 studies concluded vaping is likely to cause lung and oral cancer, though the science is contested and the vaping industry strongly disputes it. Glenn meets the high schoolers who can't stop, a young woman who spent five years trying to quit, and a quit-smoking service losing its government funding — and its staff their jobs — rather than hand out vapes it believes could cause harm. Paddy puts it to Smokefree Minister Casey Castello, and lays out his own three-point plan to protect the next generation. Made with the support of NZ On Air.