Presented this Monday by Public Health France and the National Cancer Institute, the 2021 Cancer Barometer reports for the first time on the perceptions and attitudes of the French towards e-cigarettes. Figures shared by the two organizations show a practice that is on the rise, especially among young people.
“Younger generations are 3.5 times more likely to have tried it. In fact, more than half of young people between the ages of 15 and 24 and 56.8% of those between 25 and 34 have already tried it,” the document states.
“A tool that should be temporary”
In total, the electronic cigarette is currently used by 7.5% of the French, in increasing deux points by rapport to 2020. A practical person who is concerned, even though the device is initially available is developed to come as an aid to people who want to be arrested tobacco.
“The electronic cigarette was developed to reduce the risk of smoking, to avoid triggering that impulse when you quit. But it is a tool that must be temporary, because later it becomes a gestural addiction, but also to nicotine”, indicates the doctor Alain Ducardonnet, BFMTV health consultant.
“I do this all the time, from when I wake up until night falls. It is true that it is boring, because in my bed I vape all the time. Even inside I forget, even on the subway sometimes, like ‘She never leaves my hand’, a young woman using an electronic cigarette explains to BFMTV.
Marketing campaign to attract young people.
In recent years, tobacco manufacturers have redoubled their marketing efforts to appeal to a younger audience, offering products with elegant design and varied, original flavors. The 2021 cancer barometer points in particular to “promotional actions on social networks, orchestrated by the tobacco industry, escaping the specific legislation of each country.”
Therefore, the Puff brand offers refills flavored with “marshmallow”, “ice caramel” or even “chocolate-hazelnut”. Last November, tobacconists expressed their desire to be the only ones to sell these products, ensuring that online commerce sites and stores specializing in electronic cigarettes were making fun of the ban on sales to minors.
Paradoxically, this massification of vaping does not mean that the French are unaware of its dangers. As the 2021 Cancer Barometer notes, “more than one in two French people (52.9%)” consider e-cigarettes “as or more harmful than traditional cigarettes.”
The French also mistakenly believe that it is the nicotine in these devices that can cause cancer.
A practice that can lead to smoking?
Although convincing scientific data is still lacking to establish the actual danger of vaping, the practice is not without its risks.
“What some independent studies on cancer show is that it has a respiratory effect and a vascular effect. You have to be objective, it is a product that is not trivial. It is a product that exposes people to less risk than traditional cigarettes. can help some people to quit smoking, it can also make others start smoking again,” explains Loïc Josseran, a tobacco specialist.
In addition, in the younger public, early exposure to nicotine can influence brain development, recalls Alain Ducardonnet.
“Many actions have already been taken to initiate the total denormalization of tobacco and, in this context, the place of the electronic cigarette must be questioned,” concludes the 2021 Cancer Barometer.
Source: BFM TV
