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For a generation of music fans, it seemed vaping became embedded in nightlife culture almost overnight. Between festival grounds, sticky club floors, and venues’ smokers’ areas, disposable vapes quickly joined the lineup of nights out alongside mosh pits, band tees and warm beers.
Hardstyle and trance raver Daz* was first introduced to cigarettes through the social smokers’ section of music events. “I’d say that going to raves was the reason the addiction began.” As people like Daz began to take up vaping, it was the environment and ease of access that made it so easy to trade one addiction for another.
“What got me to switch over to vaping was that I didn’t have to go outside for a smoke anymore,” Daz tells Rolling Stone AU/NZ. “It’s so easy to just hit a cheeky one in the mosh rather than going into the smokers’ section, because there’s no decision-making barrier to going outside. It’s one less hurdle to think about before just hitting it right then and there.” In reality, it’s illegal to vape anywhere you can’t smoke, but some of the social norms are still catching up.
House and EDM lover, Sadie* swapped from cigarettes to vapes for the same reason. “Because vapes were so new, you could get away with vaping inside and not have to give up your perfect spot on the dancefloor,” Sadie shares.
Electronic music fan Jacqui agrees that the DJ scene in Melbourne was a major reason she picked up a vape. “Commonly, the only place to have a quiet moment was in the smokers’ area, which can make quitting or avoiding very difficult.”
According to data collated from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare in 2024, the rate of vaping is high amongst young people, with 9.3% of people aged 18 to 24 and 6.5% of people aged 25 to 29 using them daily. Despite years of marketing from tobacco and nicotine companies positioning vaping as a safer alternative to smoking, people like Daz began experiencing the very real effects of the habit they picked up at raves.
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“It got to a point where after I’d get in bed to go to sleep, I could hear my breathing sound similar to popcorn being made in the microwave. My partner was hearing it too,” Daz shares. “It would happen not just before bed but occasionally during the day as well, so I went to the doctors because I scared myself researching it online.”
Cravings became difficult to manage. Daz’s mood grew more agitated anytime they thought about vaping. Sadie, on the other hand, began to wake up in the middle of the night just to get a hit of nicotine.
“My vaping had gotten worse than my cigarette smoking ever was,” says Sadie. “I started vaping in the back room of my retail job because it was so stressful. I couldn’t wait to get outside for my break.”
Research has shown that both smoking and vaping have harmful effects on the body. Smoking cigarettes is known to cause 16 types of cancer and kills two in three lifetime users. Each year, 24,000 Australians die from smoking-related illness. Risks of vaping include lung damage and disease, high heart rate and blood pressure, and a likely increased risk of lung and oral cancer.
“[Vaping] definitely impacts your breathing and stamina,” says Jacqui. “Almost as soon as I started vaping, I knew I didn’t want it to become a habit. I felt guilt and shame.”
While nicotine addiction is hard, not being able to do the things you care about is even harder. Quit.org.au has a range of tangible tips and tactics to help you achieve the goal of putting down the vape. Quitline counsellors can also provide personalised advice that suits your individual needs and work through the complex emotions associated with quitting.
Some people, like Daz, managed to stop cold turkey. “I just went outside whenever I felt like I needed [to vape]. I stopped buying them too, and eventually never had it around me.”
For others, it’s not as clear-cut. Sadie ended up reverting back to smoking cigarettes but eventually whittled them right down to zero. One tip that helped Sadie get through the harder nights out was switching to a soft drink or even eating a lollipop to soothe cravings. For Jacqui, who has ADHD and experiences challenges with routine and addictions, medication more commonly used to quit smoking was prescribed by her GP and helped her kick the vape for good.
Despite quitting, the temptation to vape is often still there for Jacqui, particularly in music venues. Jacqui encourages her friends not to vape around her and replaces the vape with something else, like chewy sour lollies. “Don’t ask me to ‘come to smokers’ where there will be temptation,” says Jacqui.
To make up for the dopamine hit of nicotine, Daz has now taken to running.
“Vaping essentially gives you two seconds of immediate dopamine hit, so I’ve replaced it with a healthier dose of dopamine that lasts longer – runner’s high. It’s more than just the mindset because it’s your body physically reacting to [vaping], so you have to tackle it both mentally and physically.”
For music fans who want to quit vaping for good, the environment of gigs, concerts and festivals can feel tempting. Thankfully, Australia’s vaping regulations have tightened significantly in recent years, with restrictions on sales designed to curb uptake. Whoever you spend your weekend with or which gigs you attend, quitting vaping is possible, and you don’t have to do it alone.
“I used to be the person who would wait until Monday, or wait for the new year to quit,” says Daz. “But if you keep waiting, it’ll never happen.”
Quit offers free, non-judgmental support, tools, and personalised plans to help people quit vaping or smoking. Visit Quit for more information or contact Quitline.
* Name changed for anonymity
