Actually, they shouldn’t even be able to get their hands on cigarettes, but they do it anyway: A study shows that the proportion of smoking teenagers has almost doubled this year. Researchers and politicians are concerned.
The number of young people smoking in Germany rose dramatically in 2022. This is shown by new data from the German survey on smoking behavior (DEBRA study). Accordingly, the proportion of tobacco smokers among 14 to 17 year olds has almost doubled within the past twelve months: from 8.7 to 15.9 percent.
The extrapolated figures mean that there are around 200,000 more underage smokers than in 2021. Nicotine consumption is also increasing sharply among e-cigarettes and among young adults, it is said. In total, more than 400,000 minors smoked cigarettes in Germany – although according to the Youth Protection Act they are not allowed to buy any tobacco products.
Since the DEBRA study began in 2016, there has never been such a high rate of tobacco smoking among young people as it is now. The survey, which is carried out every two months, is one of the most extensive studies on the subject of smoking in Germany with a good 2000 study participants. “It’s frightening,” said Daniel Kotz, head of the DEBRA study and professor for addiction research at the Institute for General Medicine at the University of Düsseldorf, the “Spiegel”. “The proportion of smokers has risen across Germany in all age groups – and particularly so among young people.”
In the past few decades, smoking rates among young people have fallen significantly, reports the “Spiegel”. At the turn of the millennium, almost every fourth minor smoked, recently it was only around ten percent. Now the trend has turned abruptly. Young people are also increasingly using e-cigarettes containing nicotine. According to the study, the proportion of tobacco users is also increasing significantly among young adults: from 36 to almost 41 percent among 18 to 24 year olds. Overall, according to the DEBRA study, the proportion of smokers in the at least 14-year-old population in Germany has risen from 26.6 to 35.5 percent since 2020.
Researcher Kotz suspects that the constant stress caused by the pandemic, war and crisis makes many people reach for cigarettes. Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach was appalled by the DEBRA figures. “These study results are a very big cause for concern,” the SPD politician told the “Spiegel”. “We will now analyze this data in detail. And then we have to think about measures for better protection of minors.” More than 120,000 people die every year in Germany as a result of tobacco consumption. That is over 40 times as many as in road traffic or over 60 times as many as from heroin or other illegal drugs.
