Tag: youth use

  • Greece Set to Boost Penalties for Youth Vape Sales

    Greece Set to Boost Penalties for Youth Vape Sales

    Credit: Lornet

    Greece is set to introduce a new bill in its Parliament that would impose stricter penalties for businesses supplying alcohol, electronic cigarettes, and vaping devices to minors in the government’s efforts to revamp alcohol laws in the country.

    This is a joint decision made by the ministries of Citizen Protection, Justice, and Health, and it comes after repeated incidents of selling alcohol to under-aged individuals.

    According to sources, violators who sell these harmful products to minors could be punished with imprisonment, financial fines, and other administrative penalties, including the immediate closure of the business involved, media reports.

    Ministerial officials report that past oversights have also been identified regarding the access minors have to these harmful products. Specifically, under the previous government, the number of police officers assigned to enforce the anti-smoking law, for example, had been drastically reduced, penalties had been minimized, and there was also a decision allowing for the use of alcohol by minors at private events.

    The Minister of Justice Giorgos Floridis commented on the new law, “Everything is now becoming stricter for the protection of minors, with increased enforcement.”

  • England: Rich Kids More Likely to Vape, Use Drugs

    England: Rich Kids More Likely to Vape, Use Drugs

    VV Archive

    Vaping, illegal drug use, and drinking alcohol are more common among English children from better-off families compared to poorer households, a new study suggests.

    The data showed that a more significant proportion of children aged 11 to 15 from affluent backgrounds in England self-reported their experience of each than those from the least affluent backgrounds.

    The Social Mobility Commission said its analysis of National Health Service (NHS) digital data showed that almost a third (32 percent) of young people from wealthier backgrounds had consumed alcohol in the previous month.

    This compared to less than a fifth (19 percent) of those from poorer households, suggests media reports.

    Some 13 percent of more affluent kids had vaped, compared with 10 percent in the least advantaged group, while almost a quarter (23 percent) had taken drugs compared with 17 percent from poorer groups.

    The authors suggested access to alcohol might be easier for children from higher socioeconomic backgrounds.

    However, the researchers said they don’t believe this explains the broader findings, and called for further research “to explore these worrying trends.”

  • Study Suggests Vapes Alter Brain Function in Youth

    Study Suggests Vapes Alter Brain Function in Youth

    VV Archives

    College students who vape have lower cognitive function scores than those who don’t, researchers reported Sunday at the American Neurological Association’s annual meeting in Orlando, Fla.

    Researchers found that the more students vape, the lower their scores on learning, memory, problem-solving, and critical thinking tests.

    Researchers found that students who vaped 10 to 20 puffs per day scored 9 percent lower than those who did not vape or smoke, while those who vaped more than 20 puffs a day scored nearly 14 percent lower, media states.

    “We believe our research marks a before-and-after in the field of studying cognitive function regarding vaping,” said lead researcher Linker Vinan Paucar, a medical student at the Catholic University of Santiago de Guayaquil in Ecuador.

    Previous studies have shown that smoking can affect brain function by shrinking the brain and lowering blood flow to brain cells, researchers said in background notes. Nicotine also causes neurotoxicity that damages brain cells.

    The risk might be even more significant in people who vape, Paucar said.

    “People in the study who had previously smoked cigarettes typically smoked three or four a week, but with vaping, they now smoke double, triple or more, especially if they smoke and vape,” Paucar said.

  • NYTS: Youth Vape Use at Lowest Level in Decade

    NYTS: Youth Vape Use at Lowest Level in Decade

    VV Archive

    Half a million fewer U.S. youth reported current use of e-cigarettes in 2024 compared to 2023, according to new data from the National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) released by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

    The nationally representative data featured in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) includes findings on e-cigarette and nicotine pouch use among U.S. youth, two categories of tobacco products the FDA and CDC are monitoring closely, particularly regarding youth use and appeal.

    NYTS is an annual school-based, self-administered survey of U.S. middle (grades 6–8) and high school (grades 9–12) students conducted Jan. 22 to May 22, 2024. Findings showed there was a significant drop in the number of U.S. middle and high school students who reported current (past 30 days) e-cigarette use – a decrease from 2.13 million (7.7%) youth in 2023 to 1.63 million (5.9%) youth in 2024.

    This decline was primarily driven by reduced e-cigarette use among high schoolers (1.56 million to 1.21 million), with no statistically significant change in current e-cigarette use among middle school students within the past year. According to an FDA release, the number of youth who used e-cigarettes in 2024 is approximately one-third of what it was at its peak in 2019, when over five million youth reported current e-cigarette use.

    “The continued decline in e-cigarette use among our nation’s youth is a monumental public health win,” said Brian King, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP). “This progress is a testament to the relentless efforts by the FDA, CDC, and others, particularly over the past half-decade. But we can’t rest on our laurels, as there’s still more work to do to further reduce youth e-cigarette use.”

    Among youth who currently used e-cigarettes, 26.3% reported using e-cigarettes daily. The vast majority of youth who currently used e-cigarettes used flavored products (87.6%), with fruit (62.8%), candy (33.3%) and mint (25.1%) being the top three most commonly used flavors. Disposable e-cigarette products were the most common product type used; however, the most popular brands included both disposable and cartridge-based products.

    Among youth who currently used e-cigarettes, the most commonly reported brands were Elf Bar (36.1%), Breeze (19.9%), Mr. Fog (15.8%), Vuse (13.7%) and JUUL (12.6%).

    Over the past year, a substantive drop occurred in youth reporting use of e-cigarette products under the Elf Bar brand – from 56.7% in 2023 to 36.1% in 2024. Elf Bar is not authorized by the FDA and has been the subject of focused compliance and enforcement actions by the agency since early 2023, including more than 1,000 warning letters and 240 civil money penalties to retailers and others in the supply chain.

    The FDA has also issued import alerts that include products under the Elf Bar brand, which places them on the “red list” and allows the agency to detain products without conducting a full inspection at the time of entry.

    Youth nicotine pouch use did not show a statistically significant change from 2023 (1.5% in 2023 and 1.8% in 2024). Of the nearly half a million middle and high school students who reported current nicotine pouch use, 22.4% used them daily.

    The most commonly reported brands among that group were Zyn (68.7%), on! (14.2%), Rogue (13.6%), Velo (10.7%) and Juice Head ZTN (9.8%). Among those who currently used nicotine pouches, the vast majority used flavored products (85.6%), with mint (53.3%), fruit (22.4%) and menthol (19.3%) being the most commonly used flavors.

    “While it’s encouraging to see these numbers currently remaining relatively low, the bottom line is that we are concerned about any youth appealing tobacco product,” King said. “Our guard is up. We are aware of the reported growing sales trends for nicotine pouches and are closely monitoring the evolving tobacco product landscape for threats to public health, particularly when it comes to kids.”

  • Smoking Down, Vaping Up Among Indonesian Minors

    Smoking Down, Vaping Up Among Indonesian Minors

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    Smoking is down but vaping is up among Indonesian minors, reports The Jakarta Globe, citing a recent health survey.

    According to the Indonesian Health Survey (SKI), the prevalence of smoking among 10-18-year-olds decreased to 7.4 percent in 2023, down from 9.1 percent recorded in the 2018 Basic Health Research.

    However, the figure is still higher than the 7.2 percent prevalence in 2013 and the 5.4 percent target set in the 2015-2019 National Medium-Term Development Plan, noted Eva Susanti, director of non-communicable disease prevention and control at the Health Ministry during a World No Tobacco Day media briefing in Jakarta on May 29.

    Minors’ use of e-cigarettes, meanwhile, increased from 0.06 percent in 2018 to 0.13 percent in 2023.

    The Health Ministry is intensifying efforts to prevent children from smoking or vaping. This includes banning the consumption of tobacco and e-cigarettes by children and pregnant women, prohibiting tobacco advertising on social media, and outlawing the sale of single cigarettes.

  • WHO Says Nicotine Industry Still Targeting Children

    WHO Says Nicotine Industry Still Targeting Children

    Photo: v-a-butenkov

    Despite its talk about harm reduction, the tobacco industry is still targeting youth via social media, sports and music festivals and flavored products, according to the World Health Organization, reports Reuters.

    In a joint report issued with STOP, an industry watchdog, the global health body alleged that tobacco companies’ alternative smoking products such as vapes are often marketed with designs and flavors that are appealing to young people.

    “It’s dishonest to talk about harm reduction when they are marketing to children,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO’s director-general.

    The WHO pointed to flavors like bubblegum as a driver of youth vape use increases. The industry, however, argues that flavors are a key tool in helping adult smokers switch to less harmful alternatives. Most large companies have moved away from youth-appealing flavors.

    The WHO says that companies use social media and sponsorship of music festivals and sports festivals to target youth, allowing the companies to promote their brands to younger audiences and to hand out free samples.

    In addition, the WHO argues that there is insufficient evidence that vapes help smokers quit. Rather, the entity said that there is evidence vaping increases traditional cigarette use, especially among youth.

    Sarah Jackson, principal research fellow at University College London’s Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group, contradicted that view, however, saying that the WHO statements, “do not accurately reflect current evidence on e-cigarettes.”

  • Study Links Social Media Usage With Youth Vaping

    Study Links Social Media Usage With Youth Vaping

    Credit: Feng Yu

    In a recent study published in Thorax, researchers found associations between the use of social media platforms and the risk of combustible cigarette smoking and vaping among youth.

    The study is based on a survey of almost 11,000 young British people ages 10 to 25 who were tracked from 2015 through 2021.

    Overall, 8.5 percent said they currently smoked, 2.5 percent said they vaped and about 1 percent did both, according to media reports.

    How much time they spent on TikTok, Instagram, and other social media platforms tracked well with their odds of smoking or vaping, the study found.

    Just 2 percent of people who reported no social media use engaged in cigarette smoking, but that rose to 17 percent among those who said they were on social media seven-plus hours per day.

    Similarly, less than 1 percent of those who avoided social media vaped, compared to 2.5 percent of those who used it seven or more hours daily.

    Dr. Graham Wheeler, honorary senior lecturer at the Imperial Clinical Trials Unit, Imperial College London, and statistics director for Statistical Innovation in Specialty and Primary Care at GSK, said the results of this large study are similar to the findings of other research into the association of social media use and smoking habits.

    “However, the researchers didn’t record the social media platforms used, or how the users interacted with friends on these platforms. For example, are stronger associations seen amongst users of TikTok or Instagram compared to Whatsapp?

    “Social media use is self-reported, so may not be an accurate record of actual use.

    “The researchers also assessed how the interaction of social media use and variables such as age, household income and sex were associated with cigarette and e-cigarette use. However, they did not report the interaction of social media use with parental use of cigarettes and e-cigarettes, which is one of the strongest variables associated with children’s smoking habits. We don’t know if this trend of higher odds of being a smoker increasing with social media usage changes when comparing children of parents who are smokers and children of parents who are not smokers.

    “This survey reports responses given at a single point in time, rather than following non-smokers over time to see if the likelihood of them taking up cigarette smoking or e-cigarette use is associated with increasing levels of social media use.”

  • Thailand Cracking Down on Vaping in Schools

    Thailand Cracking Down on Vaping in Schools

    Credit: a3701027

    Thailand’s Office of the Basic Education Commission (OBEC) is set to implement strict measures, including personal belongings checks, in an attempt to curb the use of vapes in schools after a “surge” in usage among students.

    The Deputy Secretary-General of OBEC, Thee Pawangkanan, has expressed concerns over the increasing usage of e-cigarettes among Thai students aged 13-15. According to media reports, there have also been cases of vape usage among first-graders, as young as six and seven years old, making them the youngest smokers.

    Obec is considering conducting bag searches to screen for illegal and inappropriate objects, including e-cigarettes, before students enter classrooms. Pawangkanan said the measures will be imposed at schools starting on May 15, the first day of the new term.

  • Altria set to Submit PMTA for Flavored Njoy Products

    Altria set to Submit PMTA for Flavored Njoy Products

    Altria sign

    It seems U.S. regulators are prepared to accept premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) for some flavored vaping products other than tobacco from a brand that already has a marketing authorization for its tobacco-flavored products.

    A marketing authorization for a fruit flavor would be unexpected from U.S. regulators. And giving a flavored-product authorization to a major tobacco company would likely cause an uproar from a majority of the vaping industry.

    According to media reports, Altria Group is finalizing its submissions to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to sell Njoy vape products in blueberry and watermelon flavors, CEO Billy Gifford said Wednesday at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York (CAGNY) conference in Florida.

    Altria is already waiting for action from the FDA on a menthol version, he said. The company said it hopes its plans to employ Bluetooth technology to prevent underage use in a way it hasn’t yet detailed will be enough to sway the regulatory agency that has yet to approve a flavored e-liquid vaping product in a flavor other than tobacco.

    “We’ve demonstrated the age-gating restrictions are effective at preventing underage access in virtually all cases,” Gifford said, according to a transcript of the company’s webcast.

    Altria plans to get its regular tobacco-flavored Njoy vape products into 100,000 stores in 2024, up from around 75,000 last year, with new packaging, Gifford said. He estimated that the international opportunity to sell heated tobacco and vape products is worth $35 billion to $50 billion.

    After encouraging results from the launch of its larger-sized oral nicotine pouches, On! Plus, in Sweden, Altria plans to expand distribution there, and launch the On! Plus products in the U.K. this year, according to CFO Salvatore Mancuso.

  • Schumer Wants Crackdown on Zyn Nicotine Pouches

    Schumer Wants Crackdown on Zyn Nicotine Pouches

    Image: Tobacco Reporter archive

    U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is calling for a crackdown on Zyn nicotine pouches, arguing that the product will be the next “trend in addiction for teens,” according to USA Today. He has asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission to take action on the company’s marketing practices and the product’s health effects.

    “Amid federal action against e-cigs and their grip on young people, a quiet and dangerous alternative has emerged, and it is called Zyn,” said Schumer. “I am delivering a new warning to parents because these nicotine pouches seem to lock their sights on teens and use social media to hook them.”

    “The amount of nicotine is highly addictive, and much more needs to be done to understand and communicate the health risks for young people,” Schumer said.

    Zyn’s parent company said that it both meets and exceeds industry regulations.

    “The FDA remains concerned about any tobacco product that may appeal to youth,” said Brian King, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, in response. “The FDA uses a variety of surveillance tools to monitor the evolving tobacco product landscape and to identify emerging threats to public health.”

    King noted that the FDA closely monitors “those in the supply chain for compliance with federal law.”

    “As always, we are committed to holding those accountable who sell unauthorized tobacco products, including those labeled, advertised and/or designed to encourage youth use,” said King.

    The Federal Trade Commission did not comment, noting that it “does not publicly speculate on external requests for investigations or comment on letters from member[s] of Congress,” according to USA Today.