Teenagers use e-cigarettes at higher rate than adults: report

Young people use e-cigarettes at higher rates than adults in many countries, according to a report from the World Health Organization and STOP, a global tobacco industry watchdog.

The report, titled “Hooking the next Generation,” highlights how the tobacco and nicotine industry designs products, implements marketing campaigns and works to shape policy environments to help the world's youth whole to become dependent.

The report shows that around 37 million children aged 13 to 15 worldwide use tobacco, and in many countries the rate of e-cigarette use among adolescents exceeds that of adults. In the WHO European Region, 20 percent of 15-year-olds surveyed reported using e-cigarettes in the past 30 days.

Despite significant progress in reducing tobacco use, the emergence of e-cigarettes and other new tobacco and nicotine products pose a serious threat to young people and tobacco control, WHO said in a statement. press. Studies show that the use of electronic cigarettes increases the consumption of conventional cigarettes by almost three times, particularly among young non-smokers.

“History repeats itself, as the tobacco industry tries to sell the same nicotine to our children in different packages,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “These industries are actively targeting schools, children and youth with new products that are essentially candy-flavored traps. How can they talk about harm reduction when they market these dangerous and highly addictive products to children ?”

These industries continue to market their products to young people with tempting flavors like candy and fruit. Research in the United States found that more than 70 percent of young e-cigarette users would quit if the products were only available in tobacco flavor.

by Joji XavierEditor of RTTNews

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