Tobacco, alcohol, cannabis… What is behind the drop in consumption among adolescents?

The image of the teenager who “smoke his cigarette” out of high school is she disappearing ? The data revealed on March 9 in a survey by the French Observatory of Drugs and Drug Addiction (OFDT) have something to ask. According to the results of hearings conducted with nearly 23,000 young people aged 17, the consumption of tobacco, alcohol and cannabis is on the decline among adolescents.

>> Fewer and older… Who are the cannabis smokers in France?

In 2022, less than one in two young people (46.5%) declared having already smoked at least one cigarette during their lifetime – compared to 59% in 2017. Regarding alcohol, the drop is less significant, but the survey notes that more and more 17-year-olds have never drunk: they are almost one in five in 2022 (19.4%) – compared to 14.3% in 2017. Finally, so close to the half of 17-year-olds (47.8%) had already tried cannabis in 2014, they are only 29.9% in 2022.

According to Olivier Le Nezet, in charge of studies at the French Observatory of Drugs and Drug Addiction, co-author of the survey, this decline is part of a dynamic of reduction “constant since the 2000s”in particular for the consumption of alcohol and tobacco. “It’s a real public health victory”rejoices Damien Scliffet, psychiatrist and addictologist at the Lille University Hospital.

An impact after three years of pandemic

According to the authors of the study, this significant drop is partly explained by the impact of the health crisis on the younger generations. For nearly two years, “many teenagers” have been deprived of the slightest opportunity to go out, because of confinements, curfews, and other closures, summarizes Marie Jauffret-Roustide, sociologist at Inserm and specialist in drug control policies.

“We know full well that alcohol and cannabis are particularly consumed in the context of these moments of sociability”

Marie Jauffret-Roustide, sociologist

at franceinfo

At that age, “initiation” to alcohol, tobacco and cannabis is done “with peers”, supports Damien Scliffet. Result: the lack of opportunities, due to the restrictive measures due to the pandemic, has delayed, even discouraged, a good part of the “first drinks” of drugs.

This reduction will it be absorbed, at the end of the health crisis? The survey suggests that “these lesser uses seem to be permanently inscribed in the behavior of the adolescent population”. According to Fatma Bouvet de la Maisonneuve, psychiatrist and addictologist, “IeToday’s teenagers are less and less confronted with the other”. Thus, young people “who increasingly suffer from social anxiety, have less need of these artifices“.

Tobacco has gone cheesy

Moreover, the image of cigarettes “has deteriorated in the minds of the youngest”, explains Olivier Le Nezet. The multiple public health policies developed against smoking from the 1990s may have played a role. In 1991, the Evin law banned all advertising on the smoking and also abolished the right to smoke in public places. No more billowing smoke in hospitals, restaurants or planes. In fact, the generations who grew up in the 2000s and 2010s were born after the start of tobacco control.

>> A look back at 30 years of tobacco control policy

End of advertising, repulsive photos of decrepit lungs and damaged teeth attached to the back of packages, price increases at tobacconists… Public health measures taken to prevent the dangers of cigarettes “have completely reshaped the representation that young people have of it”REMARK Marie Jauffret Roustide.

“Unlike older generations who grew up on glamorized cigarettes in movies, today’s teenagers are fully aware of the harmfulness of the substance.”

Marie Jauffret-Roustide, sociologist

at franceinfo

By extension, the cigarette rite of passage, according to which “Young people smoke to copy their peers when they leave high school”, is no longer automatic, according to Damien Scliffet. For the psychiatrist, “there exists today other ways of existing within a group”especially through social networks, which help teens achieve the goal “social integration” often sought after in drug use. Other specialists try another hypothesis: concerned about their health, csome minors may be less interested in tobacco.

New sources of addiction

If young people are gradually turning away from tobacco, they are however showing an increasing interest in electronic cigarettes since vaping has increased between 2017 and 2022. Last year, almost 6 out of 10 teenagers (56.9%) had already vaped – compared to 52.4% in 2017. This is the largest increase seen in the survey, pushed “by a very clear increase in female consumption”notes Olivier Le Nezet.

The marketing implemented in recent years has paid off. Strawberry, caramel, chocolate, vanilla… “The different tastes have been put forward for a young audience”, explains Damien Scliffet. He regrets that we “incites to consume” electronic cigarettes, when “the stated objective was rather to put an end to an addictive practice”. And this, not necessarily with the objective “sold initially” to crush his last cig. “The vapers generally contain nicotine, which maintains the addiction”recalls Georges Brousse, psychiatrist and addictologist at Clermont-Ferrand University Hospital.

“With such marketing around the electronic cigarette, we recreate 100% a risk of nicotine addiction.”

Georges Brousse, psychiatrist

at franceinfo

New substances are also arriving on the market, according to most of the experts interviewed by franceinfo, such as codeine-based syrup or even nitrous oxide, also called “laughing gas”, generally sold in the form of canisters in grocery stores. and on the internet. “The percentage of teenagers who said they consume this laughing gas is not high (2%), but given the risks it poses, particularly neurological, a large number of young people are exposed”explains Damien Scliffet. “These are substances that circulate quickly on social networks and whose compositions we do not know. We must be worried about them”warns Fatma Bouvet de la Maisonneuve.

A still worrying relationship with drugs

Regarding alcohol, the explanation is a little more complex. “This drop does not mean that there is no problem”, retorts Fatma Bouvet de la Maisonneuve. As such, the propensity of adolescents to drink large quantities in a few hours (what is called “binge-drinking”) is confirmed, according to the OFDT survey. More than a third of 17-year-olds surveyed say they have engaged in such a practice “at least once a month”. A trend that is all the more worrying since nearly half of its followers are not “regular consumers”but many users “casual”. “This confirms the fact that this practice is widespread among teenagers”notes Olivier Le Nezet.

Willingness to take drugs for the purpose of “high” also persists, abounds Georges Brousse. For the psychiatrist, this relationship to teenage drugs is part of a societal trend where “we are constantly looking to improve our performance”. The characteristic, therefore, of substances such as cocaine, ecstasy or amphetamine. Psychiatrist Dan Véléa is concerned about the democratization of these products, in particular through “better accessibility” with increasingly lower prices. “The addictive potential of these drugs is very strong”he recalls.

“It is no longer so much the substance itself that worries, but the relationship that teenagers have with it.”

Dan Véléa, psychiatrist

at franceinfo

“Adolescents consume to anesthetize suffering”, adds this addictologist. A finding shared by several of his colleagues, who recall the numerous studies of recent months on the deterioration of the mental health of young people. “Between lockdowns, uncertainty about their future, climate anxiety, the war in Ukraine, and more recently inflation, they feel anxious for a whole host of reasons”explains Damien Scliffet. “The Covid-19 crisis has amplified this tendency to take substances to forget about problems”abounds Georges Brousse. In this respect, the OFDT survey reveals that nearly one in two young people declares to suffer from a mental health problem. Proof that if teenagers consume less, they are not necessarily better.