While anti-smoking campaigns show their effectiveness with the general population, they have little effect on young people. The age of the first cigarette has increased to thirteen.
“At my tobacco consultation, I recently had a 7-year-old patient. “Dr Patrick Dupont, tobacco specialist at the Paul Brousse hospital in Villejuif, points out immediately:” I had never seen one so young before. But I have to say that our active queue is getting younger. No wonder that. Young people burn their first cigarette earlier and earlier. In thirty years, we have gone from 18 to 13 and a half. In fact, tobacco is no exception. There is a rejuvenation in all risky behaviors.
This phenomenon worries doctors. Because the earlier the consumption, the more intensive it will be and the more difficult the weaning will be. This concern is not, moreover, Franco-French. As proof, the World Health Organization has chosen “Youth without tobacco” as the theme of its 2008 World Day. And the WHO points out that in the world, a quarter of children under ten have used to smoke.
Unfortunately, these young smokers are not easy prey for tobacco specialists. Anti-tobacco policies seem to find their limits with this young audience. The last annual “Paris without tobacco” survey carried out among young high school and university students even reports a rise in daily smoking. Among 12-15 year olds, it had fallen to 2% in 2007. It rose to 7% a year later. Among 16-19 year olds, this is the status quo. The Espad survey published in the Weekly Epidemiological Bulletin (BEH) is less worrying. It shows a halving of daily consumption among those under sixteen between 1999 and 2007. “On the other hand, the hard core of heavy smokers, more than ten cigarettes a day, does not move”, stresses Stanislas Spilka , statistician at the French Observatory for Drugs and Drug Addiction and co-author of the Espad study.
An inevitable first cigarette
If these surveys differ somewhat on the figures, they all contribute to the same observation: the young smoker goes through the cracks of the fight against tobacco. Several explanations for this phenomenon. On the one hand, “adolescents are not necessarily still addicted to nicotine,” says Professor Bertrand Dautzenberg. As a result, they feel they can quit smoking whenever they want. Smoking is therefore rarely mentioned in general medicine practices. “There needs to be an outside event, at school for example, for parents to encourage them to consult,” testifies Dr. Martine Kuperminc-Leber, liberal tobacco specialist. The other obstacle comes from their age. “What characterizes the man, and even more the teenager, is his curiosity. In other words, it is futile to want to prevent the first cigarette, believes Professor Robert Molimard, president of the French Tobacco Society. A kid who wouldn’t try to smoke, I would hesitate to send him to the psychiatrist, ”he quipped.
And even when governments take drastic measures, their effectiveness leaves much to be desired. This is the case with the ban on the sale of tobacco to those under the age of sixteen, implemented in September 2004. “This measure seems to be poorly applied”, say the authors of the Espad study. About 80% of daily smokers aged 14 and over report having bought tobacco at least once in the past 30 days. The barrier is clearly not insurmountable.
Ban candy cigarettes
Aware of these pitfalls, the Minister of Health announced new measures aimed at young people on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day. Roselyne Bachelot particularly wants to tackle sweet cigarettes. Next October, at the meeting of European Union health ministers, she wants to achieve an outright ban on this product. According to the Paris Tobacco Free Survey, 14% of 12-15 year olds have already tested them. For Professor Dautzenberg, “These cigarettes act as an initiation product for children, just like premixes are a springboard towards alcohol consumption. In addition, their color and fragrance suggest that they are less toxic. However, it is not “.
Inpes is due to launch a smoking prevention campaign aimed at the youngest in September. For its part, the WHO pleads for a more radical method: a total ban on advertising, promotion and sponsorship. The tobacco lobby may not let it go …