© WHO/K. Ashley About eight million people die each year from tobacco-related causes. World No Tobacco Day: Experts warn of new wave of nicotine addiction Healthcare
For decades, tobacco control efforts have saved millions of lives. Today, the tobacco industry has adapted its strategies and is about to take revenge. WHO warns about this on the eve of World No Tobacco Day, which is celebrated annually on May 31.
“Today we are on the cusp of a new era of industry-fueled addiction, and tobacco control efforts have not kept pace with changes,” said Dr. Ghazi Zaatari, professor and chair of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine at the American University of Beirut.
A public health expert who currently leads the research team The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Tobacco Regulatory Authority warns that a new wave of nicotine and nicotine-like products could dramatically change and expand the addiction market, making it even more accessible to children and young people.
Synthetic Nicotine: Cheap and Available
Over the past five years, the industry has increasingly switched to the use of synthetic nicotine and its chemical analogues created in laboratories. The production of such substances has become almost as cheap as producing nicotine from raw tobacco. According to the expert, this opens the way to a new generation of products that may contain almost no tobacco, but still cause addiction by acting on the same brain receptors as regular nicotine. “These products are designed to make initiation easier, encourage regular use, and reduce perceptions of risk, especially among adolescents and young adults,” warns Dr. Zaatari.
A new addiction for new generations
The promotion of these products is increasingly built not around tobacco itself, but around lifestyle, technology and social identity. However, synthetic nicotine and its analogs pose new regulatory challenges. Some companies market products as “tobacco-free,” “cleaner,” “modern,” or “less harmful,” even though they target the same addiction mechanisms in the brain. However, nicotine analogues are sometimes advertised as “nicotine-free” products, despite their high potential for addiction.
Particularly Vulnerable children and teenagers remain. Because the brain continues to develop until about age 25, exposure to nicotine during this period can alter the neural pathways involved in attention, learning, and impulse control. This is why youth remain the main target of marketing nicotine products.
“Bright packaging, fruity flavors and promotion through influencers “are not just innovations, but mechanisms aimed at normalizing nicotine consumption and accelerating the formation of addiction among the younger generation,” said Dr. Zaatari. nicotine products will finally gain a foothold in the market, and calls for an urgent update of legislation in the field of tobacco control, making it as comprehensive as possible.
“Without tougher and more flexible policies, the world risks entering a new phase of the nicotine epidemic,” noted He. In many countries, existing anti-tobacco laws were not designed to regulate nicotine analogs, synthetic compounds and hybrid products that blur the lines between pharmaceutical, recreational and tobacco products.
WHO European Region: Alarming trends call changes
Tobacco causes 1.2 million deaths in the WHO European Region every year. Of these, about 202 thousand die due to exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke.
Thus, the region maintains the world’s highest levels of tobacco consumption among adults and is projected to maintain this level until at least 2030. Among teenagers aged 13–15 years, about four million use tobacco products, and another 4.2 million use e-cigarettes. The prevalence of vaping among teenagers in the region is also the highest in the world, at 14.3 percent versus 7.2 percent in other regions.
According to the latest WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic, only 18 of the 53 countries in the European Region have enacted comprehensive laws that completely ban smoking in public places. Although more than half of the countries in the region have reached recommended levels of tobacco taxation, cigarette prices are not rising fast enough to reduce affordability. Moreover, in 19 countries, cigarettes are now more affordable than in 2014, which, according to WHO, indicates the need for further tax increases.
WHO experts believe that stopping the tobacco epidemic is only possible through comprehensive and evidence-based policies. This includes tighter regulation of all tobacco and nicotine products, including e-cigarettes, a complete ban on advertising and promotion, limits on flavor additives, higher taxes, neutral packaging, stronger protections for young people, and increased access to nicotine cessation help. dependence hidden behind the image of innovative products. After all behind the stylish packaging and attractive tastes continue to be driven by the same business model – making profit through addiction and the harm associated with it.