E-cigarette use has tripled in five years among 17-year-olds. For Amine Benyamina, president of the French Federation of Addictology, consumers “must be accompanied in stopping vaping.”
While smoking in France is declining among young people, but the use of electronic cigarettes is increasing, the president of the French Federation of Addictology recalls that one “can be dependent on a vaper”. Amine Benyamina was the guest of franceinfo on Thursday March 9, a few hours after the publication of the latest study by the French Observatory of Drugs and Addictive Trends (OFDT).
>>> Alcohol and tobacco consumption fell among 17-year-olds between 2021 and 2022
The OFDT survey shows that in 2022, 15.6% of 17-year-old adolescents consume tobacco daily (at least one cigarette per day), compared to 25.1% five years earlier. At the same time, electronic cigarette consumption increased between 2017 and 2022: 6.2% of 17-year-olds vape regularly in 2022, compared to 1.9% in 2017.
franceinfo: Some users claim to use electronic cigarettes because there are no “consequences” behind it. Are we sure?
Amine Benyamina: We don’t have the effects of the ignition of vapours, we don’t have the cutting products, we don’t have tar, etc. But even so, we can, alas, end up being dependent on a vaper. Young people, like the less young, must be accompanied in stopping vaping. We have the same thing with rubbers. We have people who have been chewing gum for years.
The OFDT survey observes that there is less alcohol, less cannabis, fewer “classic” cigarettes at the entrance to high schools. Is it a fad or a consequence of prevention campaigns?
There’s a trend because there’s a cheesy side to consuming things this way.
Has the picture changed?
The image has changed, but watch out! The figures show that when you don’t drink almost every day, when you want to drink on one occasion, you do so until you’re drunk. It’s always the same, you have to look at the figures with a certain nuance.
“I’m not saying that this drop is bad, but France, which is therefore seeing a drop in cannabis use among young people, remains the second largest cannabis consumer in Europe.”
Amine Benyamina, president of the French federation of addictologyat franceinfo
What is interesting, because we are talking about tobacco, cannabis and alcohol, which constitute markers for regular evaluation and measurement, is that we are not talking about new products on which we must be very vigilant: synthetic drugs, nitrous oxide… everything that happens and which is for the moment quite confidential.
What do you think of the usefulness of the electronic cigarette?
It is a great risk reduction tool. He showed that some people who didn’t have the ability to quit smoking fell back on that. And thanks to this device, they managed to get by. However, we realize that now there is a marketing phenomenon that can sometimes target young people and on which we should perhaps start thinking.
Has the phenomenon of aggressive marketing aimed at young people on vapers increased?
Yes of course. This is the phenomenon of drugs. When you “market”, when you make a product trendy, there is a phenomenon of generalization on which you must immediately set up a response.