open access
Novel tobacco and nicotine products and youth in the European Union


- International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France
- Tobacco Control Unit, Cancer Prevention and Control Program, Institut Català d’Oncologia-ICO, Barcelona, Spain
- Tobacco Control Research Group, Institut d’Investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge-IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain
- School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- CIBER en Enfermedades Respiratorias, CIBERES, Center for Biomedical Research in Respiratory Diseases, Madrid, Spain
- Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, United States
open access
Abstract
In recent years, there has been a rapid proliferation of novel tobacco and nicotine products in the market, which have gained in popularity among adolescents. The prevalence of ever user of electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) in Europe among those aged 10–24 ranges from 5.5% to 56.6%, with significant variations across countries. Adolescents have reported several reasons for e-cigs use initiation, including low harm perception, social acceptability, novelty, and peer influence. Despite being marketed as safe alternatives, e-cigs are not risk-free and have already been associated with respiratory diseases. A major concern is their potential to renormalize smoking among non-smokers and to foster nicotine dependence, leading to initiation of conventional cigarette smoking, which would revert actual declining trends in tobacco consumption. Hence, to prevent a setback in the progress made in tobacco control, there is a pressing need for more comprehensive regulation, with a particular focus on adolescents, given that teenage years are key in determining future smoking behaviors.
Abstract
In recent years, there has been a rapid proliferation of novel tobacco and nicotine products in the market, which have gained in popularity among adolescents. The prevalence of ever user of electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) in Europe among those aged 10–24 ranges from 5.5% to 56.6%, with significant variations across countries. Adolescents have reported several reasons for e-cigs use initiation, including low harm perception, social acceptability, novelty, and peer influence. Despite being marketed as safe alternatives, e-cigs are not risk-free and have already been associated with respiratory diseases. A major concern is their potential to renormalize smoking among non-smokers and to foster nicotine dependence, leading to initiation of conventional cigarette smoking, which would revert actual declining trends in tobacco consumption. Hence, to prevent a setback in the progress made in tobacco control, there is a pressing need for more comprehensive regulation, with a particular focus on adolescents, given that teenage years are key in determining future smoking behaviors.
Keywords
tobacco; novel products; youth; European Union; tobacco control


Title
Novel tobacco and nicotine products and youth in the European Union
Journal
Nowotwory. Journal of Oncology
Issue
Article type
Review paper
Published online
2023-05-11
Page views
24
Article views/downloads
30
DOI
10.5603/NJO.a2023.0022
Keywords
tobacco
novel products
youth
European Union
tobacco control
Authors
Ariadna Feliu
Carolina Espina
Cristina Martinez
Esteve Fernandez


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