At the top of the vape, Paris Sans Tabac brings 2016 data which suggests that far from being a gateway to smoking, the e-cigarette is a competitor among teens.
The numbers were long overdue. For the 1st vaping summit, organized this Monday in Paris, Prof. Betrand Dautzenberg, president of the Paris Sans Tabac association, provided 2016 data which suggests that far from being a gateway to smoking, the e-cigarette is a competitor to tobacco among French adolescents.
The annual surveys, carried out since 1991 on students in middle and high schools in Paris, are indeed final. Those carried out from 2014 to 2016, for example on the e-cigarette experiment, show that the rate stabilized during this period at 24% among non-smokers, 80% among occasional smokers, and 91% among non-smokers. daily smokers.
In addition, the vast majority of adolescents who have tried e-cigarettes do not use it regularly. And this rate is decreasing from 30% in 2013 to 18% in 2016.
E-liquids often without nicotine
To explain these figures, perhaps we should look for e-liquids used by young French people. Non-smokers are only 36% to use e-liquids with nicotine and occasional smokers 19%. In the end, only daily smokers mainly use nicotine liquids (77%). But they mostly contain less than 1% nicotine. “Under these conditions, the initiation of nicotine dependence remains possible, but the risk is reduced,” said Professor Bertrand Dautzenberg.
“Unexpected” drop in smoking among teens
Finally, the last good news for this pulmonologist, the “unexpected” drop in smoking since the appearance of e-cigarettes among adolescents. Between 2013 and 2016, the rate of smokers (exclusive or not) among 12-15 year olds increased from 15.5% to 7.1% while the rate of vaping, during the “last month” remained stable (4 , 1% to 3.9%).
Similarly, among 16-19 year olds, the rate of smokers (exclusive or not) drops from 39.5% to 29% while the rate of vaping, during the month, remains stable (8.3% to 9.2 %). “No other significant change (than the arrival of the e-cigarette: editor’s note) does not explain the break in the smoking rate among young people since 2012, ”says Professor Dautzenberg.
Prof. Bertrand Dautzenberg, President of Paris Sans Tabac: ” The e-cigarette is a product that decreases tobacco in adolescents. It should be banned for those under 18 while remaining cautious about convictions. Let’s do it a little bit… “
Identical results in the UK
He adds, moreover, that studies published in the United States and the United Kingdom are not in contradiction with this phenomenon which was mentioned in 2014. “It is of course preferable not to have any consumption or tobacco, nor e-cigarettes, but in terms of initiation of smoking as well as in terms of quitting smoking, the use of the latter constitutes a reduction in risks, which must be encouraged, even if it must be monitored and supervised ”, concludes the specialist.
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