10 health organizations sound the alarm: Urgent action needed to protect our youth from the rise of e-cigarettes
Ten health organizations are issuing a collective warning following the broadcast of VRT’s Pano investigative report on the disastrous impact of e-cigarettes on young people. This report once again confirmed that our youth are massively falling victim to nicotine addiction through e-cigarettes.
Among the concerned organizations are the Cancer Foundation, Kom op tegen Kanker, the Belgian Cardiological League, the FARES (Respiratory Diseases Fund), the SEPT (Tobacco Study and Prevention Service), OSH (Hainaut Health Observatory), the Diabetes League, VRGT (Flemish Society of Respiratory Health and Tuberculosis), all members of the Alliance for a Smoke-Free Society, as well as BeRS (Belgian Respiratory Society) and BeLF (Belgian Lung Foundation). These organizations are deeply worried. As they state, “Children and young people have the right to grow up without smoke or nicotine. We urge policymakers to take further action to better protect them.”
Although many initiatives have been launched in recent years to promote a generation free of tobacco and nicotine, the growing popularity of e-cigarettes among young people is undermining these efforts.
To truly protect our youth, it is no longer enough to distance them from traditional forms of tobacco. It is just as critical to steer them away from the allure of e-cigarettes and other recreational forms of nicotine consumption. Nicotine is far from harmless: it is one of the most addictive substances, alongside cocaine and heroin. Moreover, nicotine addiction is often linked to an increased risk of addiction to other substances, such as alcohol or drugs. Additionally, since adolescents’ brains are still developing, young people are far more susceptible to the rewarding effects of nicotine, making them much more vulnerable to addiction. There is also evidence that nicotine consumption during adolescence can lead to permanent changes in the brain. For young people’s mental health, nicotine is especially harmful: those who vape are not only exposed to concentration problems but are also more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression.
And nicotine is unfortunately only the visible part of the iceberg: e-cigarettes contain many other dangerous substances. The thousands of e-liquids available on the market contain a wide variety of carrier substances and flavors, inhaling which regularly can harm health. The e-cigarette remains a potentially dangerous product, with long-term effects still largely unknown.
The nicotine industry works hard to convince us that e-cigarettes are merely a smoking cessation aid or a safer alternative for adult smokers, but this is far from the truth. In reality, manufacturers do not hesitate to target young people by using aggressive marketing strategies and offering sweet flavors and colorful packaging—strategies that, according to the Pano report, are working. If we want to prevent more young people from falling into the trap of nicotine addiction, it is urgent to put an end to the unethical seduction tactics employed by an addiction industry that is desperately trying to secure a new generation of nicotine addicts for long-term business.
E-cigarettes are not a medically recognized smoking cessation aid
While e-cigarettes should be banned for non-smokers, especially young people, they can represent an alternative for those already dependent on smoking. Given how difficult it is for many smokers to quit, expanding smoking cessation options can offer a solution to some of them. When vaping, you avoid inhaling harmful substances like cancer-causing tar and carbon monoxide that are present in cigarette smoke. However, unlike other medically recognized smoking cessation aids such as nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) — like patches, gums, lozenges, or sprays — or varenicline (a drug designed to help quit smoking), e-cigarettes are not considered a medication in our country or globally. This means, among other things, that they lack the safety and quality guarantees that other cessation aids have. Therefore, health organizations recommend prioritizing medically recognized cessation aids, preferably under the supervision of a healthcare professional, such as a tobacco specialist. This approach is certainly more reliable and less risky than using e-cigarettes to quit smoking.
Blocking all access routes is crucial
Experts confirm that e-cigarettes are jeopardizing the goal of a smoke- and nicotine-free generation. Health organizations are therefore urging political leaders to urgently take action to close all access routes through which young people are drawn to e-cigarettes. The ban on disposable e-cigarettes and the ban on product displays visible to the public, which recently came into effect, are steps in the right direction, but more must be done. For example, there should be a crackdown on digital promotion and illegal trade, reduced availability for young people, stricter enforcement of the minimum sales age, and restrictive measures on the flavors that make e-cigarettes particularly attractive to young people.
If we want to prevent more children and young people from falling victim to a nicotine industry that operates without ethics, it is imperative to act now!