According to results of a survey conducted by Latvian Children Without Cigarettes among high school students, 72% of senior grade students in Latvia have tried classic cigarettes or their alternatives – electronic cigarettes and salts.
Initiator of Latvian Children Without Cigarettes and Child Friends association manager Iveta Ziemele: «Youngsters are at risk the most when it comes to addictions. The reason is because they easily go for trying new substances. Many parents don’t understand a simple truth – if they don’t take care of their children, the street will. The main motivation for youngsters is trying on new trendy things or imitating their parents that do it. We can conclude that the popularity of classic cigarettes goes down with every next generation, which is important in the context of risks of different illnesses. At the same time, there is an increase of youngsters’ interest for alternatives for classic cigarettes. The reason is because demand is up for e-cigarettes around the world.»
Cigarettes for youngsters are a sign of maturity – it’s a status thing.
All interviewed youngsters admit classic cigarettes are harmful to the health, but it’s worth trying them.
Only 15% admit smoking cigarettes regularly. Every second respondent admitted smoking cigarettes at parties. 35% of youngsters who had once tried cigarettes have dropped smoking entirely.
When asked where they get money to buy cigarettes or their alternatives, the most frequent answer is that youngsters use pocket change they receive from parents.
«Classic cigarettes are often passed down from parents – if one of the parents smokes at home, the child then carries this tradition to their friends. Different stories tell that sometimes children try cigarettes as early as elementary school. Children explain the growing popularity of alternative products by saying they aren’t as harmful to heal as classic cigarettes, they don’t produce the smell and don’t bother other people (risks of passive smoking), and that they can be kept a secret from school more easily,» says Ziemele.
The head of the movement admits healthy generations have already grown up knowing about cigarettes and how harmful they are to human health.
She admits cancer is the second most common cause of death after cardio-vascular disease. Lung cancer is the most common form of cancer in the world – it claims the lives of nearly 950 people every year. The fight against cancer is one of the priorities in the European Union. Latvia should consider taking more radical steps, too, to reduce the number of smokers, especially among youngsters.
New Zealand has already made a brave step in this direction. The parliament of this country has voted in favour of banning the sale of cigarettes to children born after 2004. A similar proposal is suggested since by the head of Latvian Saeima’s Social and Employment Matters Committee’s Public Health Subcommittee Vitālijs Orlovs, who suggests Latvia to follow this example. He has already prepared a proposal to ban the sale of cigarettes and their alternatives to children born after 2008.
586 children aged 16-18 from 14 Latvian schools took part in this survey this April.
Cigarette addiction is one of the main causes of premature death from cancer and other illnesses. One of the objectives of the recently formed Latvian Children Without Cigarettes movement is studying the reasons for cigarette addiction and other countries’ experience in reducing it among youngsters and adults to later adapt approaches in Latvia. Cigarette addiction is one of the most harmful addictions in Latvia, but the country has not made any tangible progress in this in the past ten years.