Finnish Youth Drop Smoking, E-Cigarette Use Rising

Finnish teens are drinking and smoking less but using more e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches, reports the Helsinki Times, citing findings from a European survey

The European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) has been monitoring substance use among European students since 1995.

Conducted every four years, the survey includes 16-year-olds across 23 to 39 European countries.

The proportion of ninth graders who have never consumed alcohol has increased dramatically from 10 percent in 1995 to 35 percent in 2024.

Only 6 percent of boys and 4 percent of girls smoked daily in 2024, down from around 20 percent at the beginning of the decade. However, vaping has been rising, with 40 percent of teens having tried e-cigarettes, up from 34 percent in 2019. Daily use is reported by 9 percent of boys and 13 percent of girls.

The use of snus, a form of smokeless tobacco, has also dropped. In 2024, 26 percent of boys and 13 percent of girls had tried snus, with daily use at 7 percent for boys and 3 percent for girls.

Teen use of nicotine pouches increased after Finland permitted the sale of modern oral products in 2023. By 2024, 31 percent of boys and 17 percent of girls had tried nicotine pouches, with 11 percent of boys and 3 percent of girls using them daily.

Cannabis experimentation decreased slightly during the period studied, particularly among boys, with 11 percent of boys and 9 percent of girls having tried it in 2024.

The full ESPAD report will be published in 2025.