Experts warn of rising nicotine consumption among Swiss teenagers
An anti-addiction organisation has expressed concern about an increase in the consumption of nicotine by teenagers in Switzerland.
Addiction Switzerland said a survey conducted last year showed one in three 15-year-olds used tobacco or other nicotine products within the previous month.
The strongest increase was recorded last year for e-cigarettes, particularly among girls, compared to a poll carried out in 2018, the organisation said on Monday.
About 8% of the girls surveyed regularly smoked e-cigarettes, while 6% said they smoked conventional cigarettes; the percentage among boys for both categories was 7%.
The survey also found that 4% of 15-year-olds have already tried a medical drug at least once to get high. This is similar to the figure reported four years earlier; the proportion is higher among girls.
Medicines and alcohol
About 5% of 15-year-old boys and 9% of girls of the same age have mixed medicines with alcohol at least once in their lives. Health prevention experts have warned about the dangers of such activities.
Meanwhile, alcohol or (illegal) cannabis consumption among teenagers remained more or less at the same level as in 2018.
The poll carried out in 2022 among about 9,300 pupils aged 11 to 15 across Switzerland was funded by the Federal Office of Public Health and the cantonal authorities.
Addiction Switzerland has published similar surveys every four years since 1986.
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