UK health expert raises alarm at ‘epidemic’ of vaping among teenagers

Leading respiratory doctor fears generation could end up with long-term addictions and lung damage

• Beside himself with craving': the teenagers hooked on vaping

One of the UK's leading respiratory doctors has raised the alarm about the exploding popularity of vaping among teenagers, saying that without urgent regulation a generation could end up with long-term addictions and lung damage.

Dr Mike McKean, vice-president of policy for the Royal College of Paediatricians and Child Health, said vaping was becoming an epidemic" among teenagers even though it is illegal before the age of 18. If its rapid growth maintains the same trajectory, almost all children will vape within five years, he said.