Companies continue to produce products aimed at youth with enticing and pleasant flavors, such as candy or fruit. Tobacco industry tricks lead to addiction among young people Health~60>37 million children aged 13–15 years use tobacco products, and in many countries the rate of e-cigarette use among adolescents is higher than among adults. 20 percent of 15-year-olds in the WHO European Region have used e-cigarettes in the past month.
May 31 is World No Tobacco Day. In anticipation of this day, WHO and STOP, the tobacco industry’s global watchdog, launched the report, “Powering the Next Generation,” which traces how the tobacco and nicotine industry develops products, conducts marketing campaigns and influences the political climate to addiction among youth around the world.
Despite significant progress in reducing tobacco consumption, the emergence of e-cigarettes and other new tobacco and nicotine products poses a serious threat to youth and undermines measures to combat tobacco, according to WHO. According to research, the use of electronic cigarettes leads to an almost threefold increase in the number of users of conventional cigarettes, especially among young people.
“History is repeating itself as the tobacco industry tries to sell our children the same nicotine, but in a different package,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “This industry has an active and targeted impact on schools, children and young people, offering new products that are essentially candy-flavored traps. How can they talk about harm reduction when they are marketing these dangerous and highly addictive products to children? pleasant aromas, such as candy or fruit. According to a study conducted in the United States, more than 70 percent of young e-cigarette users would stop using them if they were only available with tobacco flavor.
The use of flavors that are palatable to children, such as cotton candy and chewing gum, is a blatant attempt to make them addicted to these harmful products
“The [tobacco and nicotine products] industries deliberately develop products and use marketing strategies aimed directly at children,” says Rüdiger, director of the WHO Department of Health Promotion Krech. “The use of child-friendly flavors such as cotton candy and bubble gum, coupled with streamlined shapes and colors that resemble toys, is a blatant attempt to make them addicted to these harmful products.”
The use of such deceptive tactics highlights the urgent need for strong regulations to protect children and young people from addiction.
WHO urges governments to protect young people from using tobacco products, electronic cigarettes and other nicotine products by introducing a ban on them or taking regulatory measures. , a ban on marketing, advertising and promotion of sales of such products, increasing taxes on them and increasing public awareness of the tactical tricks of the tobacco industry.
“Young people caught in the grip of addiction, “This is why the industry actively lobbies for the creation of conditions that make its products cheap and attractive to young people who are easily hooked on them. If policymakers fail to act, today’s and future generations could face a new wave of negative consequences associated with the use and dependence of many tobacco and nicotine products, including cigarettes.”
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