Spain's young smokers: the under-24s smoke twice as much as the rest of the population

Health

One in ten smokes or vapes before they're 18, rising to one in four just a few years on, according to the latest survey by the Spanish society of family doctors

Doménico Chiappe

Madrid

By the age of 14, young people in Spain regularly smoke cigarettes or use vape pens.

Also, those under 30 are the age group that ... consumes the most nicotine, according to the 'Smoke-Free Week Survey' by the Spanish society of family and community doctors (semFYC).

Currently, 13.2 per cent of minors smoke, primarily e-cigarettes (11.9 per cent), followed by conventional cigarettes (3.8 per cent). "Among adolescents aged 14 to 18, 79.2 per cent identify appealing flavours as a key factor in encouraging consumption, 64.5 per cent mention the fashion trend and 57.9 per cent cite social pressure," stated semFYC in its report presentation on Monday.

The key point, they emphasised, is that half of these adolescents perceive vaping as "less harmful" than cigarettes.

Among 19- to 24-year-olds, more young people are becoming addicted, one in ten more than underage users, reaching a prevalence of 24.8 per cent. Among them, "dual consumption" is becoming an established pattern, in which they use both conventional cigarettes and electronic devices. The presence of vapers in this group is "significant", according to the results of this survey of 9,375 people across Spain, conducted via an anonymous online questionnaire.

Vapers are a gateway to nicotine addiction and not a tool for quitting smoking

semFYC

"This trend reinforces the concern of scientific organisations about the role of vapers as a gateway to nicotine addiction and not as a tool for quitting smoking," stated this association of GPs, even though the general perception is that e-cigarettes are "very harmful" (69 per cent), as is heated tobacco (60 per cent, known as HTPs, dispensed as an aerosol), but conventional cigarettes are believed to be more harmful (78 per cent).

The reasons why young people succumb to nicotine in its new consumption formats are "fashion" (67 per cent), appealing flavours (57 per cent), less social restriction (45 per cent) and aesthetics (43 per cent). However, above all, they become addicted because, according to the participants' criteria, "the perception of risk continues to be lower compared to conventional cigarettes."

"While there is growing public support for expanding policies to protect against smoke and nicotine, there remains a high level of normalisation among adolescents and young adults of vaping and other nicotine delivery devices that are mistakenly perceived as less harmful," warned the report's authors. "This trend makes it necessary to strengthen prevention, regulation and health education strategies, especially those aimed at young people."

Majority support

These figures showing high nicotine consumption among young people across Spain are alarming healthcare specialists, as they are significantly higher than the Spanish average. Some 54.6 per cent identify as non-smokers, another 33 per cent are former smokers and only 12 per cent currently smoke. Smokers prefer conventional cigarettes (65.4 per cent, representing 8.0 per cent of the total population), rolling tobacco (29.4 per cent among smokers, 3.5 per cent of the total) and e-cigs (12.9 per cent, or 1.5 per cent of the total) or HTPs (4.7 per cent, 0.6 per cent of the total).

Other data from the survey shows that men smoke slightly more than women (13.5 per cent versus 11.4 per cent). Also, 72 per cent of smokers tried quitting at some point, but more than half (51.7 per cent) relapsed. Of those, 17 per cent sought pharmacological treatment funded via social security.

Furthermore, three out of four survey respondents support extending smoke-free spaces and increasing prevention campaigns. Two out of three call for stricter regulation of e-cigarettes, such as restricting access to minors or regulating their promotion on social media. As for banning smoking in more places, such as terraces and private cars, support among smokers stands at 45 per cent compared to 82 per cent of non-smokers.