According to a study, almost all teenage smokers in Paris get their cigarettes from tobacconists, despite the ban on sale to minors. Finally proof that there is a real malfunction in the system.
Okay, that's not a scoop for anyone; but science had to get to the bottom of it. In France, teenage smokers buy their cigarettes from tobacconists, who agree to distribute packages to them in defiance of the legislation prohibiting sales to minors.
A study published in the journal Review of Respiratory Diseases confirms what everyone knows. Led by the Professor Bertrand Dautzenberg, a pulmonologist at Pitié Salpêtrière, the work falls within the context of annual surveys of Paris without tobacco ". Since 1991, the association questions Parisian high school students about their tobacco consumption and makes their questions evolve over the years.
Shopping at the tobacconist
To better understand how minors in the capital manage to find cigarettes despite the law supposed to block their access, the authors interviewed 7025 college students (12-15 years), 3299 minor students (16-17 years) et 3243 high school students. Among this population, the prevalence of daily smoking was 3,2%, 19%, and 22%.
However, these young smokers have massively claimed to have made their purchases of cigarettes directly at the tobacconist - without having to bribe a major smoker to buy in their place. Thus, among daily smokers, " 90,7% said they bought their tobacco at the tobacconist. This purchase concerned 74,6% of 12-15 years, 92% of 16-17 years and 94% of 18-19 years ", Specify the works.
In addition, the younger the purchase took place, the higher the level of dependence appears to be, according to the study. " ATsee bought tobacco before 12 years at a tobacconist was associated with a high 16-17 dependency score compared to those who had bought at a tobacconist after 15 years ».
The tobacconists complain 
Last year, the main author of this work produced a communiqué to discuss these results, unpublished at the time. This led to a lawsuit by the French debitants, represented by the Confederation of tobacconists, who then said that the young people of the investigation were mostly provided on the Internet and lied to scientists to blur the slopes.
So much for young people; against Bertrand Dautzenbergthe Confederation has initiated legal proceedings. " They claim me 55 000 euros evening one euro per tobacconist, explains the pulmonologist. They accuse me of being at the forefront of the pharmaceutical industry and the e-cigarette, for which I would have organized a smear campaign ". The deliberation will take place on November 30.
Source : Pourquoidocteur
