According to the French Observatory of Drugs and Drug Addiction (OFDT), the number of high school students who smoke fell sharply in 2018. Young people, like their elders, however seem more tempted by vaping, they are even more numerous to try the e-cigarette before smoking.
TOBACCO, A “HAS BEEN” PRACTICE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE?
High school years, rebellious years: first love, first cigarette. But to be closer to current trends, you have to renew your imagination with an electronic touch.
« The image of the Marlboro cowboy is largely outdated today. If we want to be rebellious, wouldn't [we] rather take an e-cigarette? », Asks Stanislas Spilka, one of the authors of the EnCLASS study, “ National High School and High School Youth Health and Substance Survey », Published this Tuesday by the French Observatory for Drugs and Drug Addiction (OFDT).
According to OFDT figures, there is indeed a decline in tobacco use among young people: the experimentation rate of high school students goes from 61% in 2015 to 53% in 2018. Daily consumption falls below the 20%. While vaping is gaining ground: just over half of high school students experimented with e-cigarettes last year, up from a third in 2015.
These figures confirm the trends in France Public Health Barometer for 2018 , published on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day on May 31. The national agency already welcomed a drop of 1,6 million smokers in two years. This data takes into account not only those who have quit smoking, mostly adults, but also those who do not become smokers, that is to say young people who do not smoke.
VAPING IS ESTABLISHED AS THE REFERENCE OF A GENERATION
In adults, the electronic cigarette is the most used way to stop smoking, among patches and other nicotine substitutes. " As observed since its arrival on the market at the beginning of the years 
2010, e-cigarettes mainly attract smokers According to the epidemiological bulletin published at the same time by Public Health France.
Last year, 9,8% of high school students had vaped before they even smoked, up from 3,7% in this case in 2015. And among those who consume both products more than one in ten has vaped first, before having touched an e-cigarette. Would vaping then push young people to smoke? Should we be concerned about this trend among young people? If some media and health professionals are concerned, it is important to remember that few young non-smokers regularly use e-cigarettes and that they remain at least 95% less harmful than traditional cigarettes. (Public Health England).
Source : Lesechos.fr/ - Reuters / AFP
