„Smoking epidemic” among teenagers in Romania. E-cigarettes and heated tobacco still bypass anti-smoking laws, with major cities besieged by ads

More than 50% of high school students have smoked e-cigarettes or heated tobacco products in the past 30 days, preliminary data from Romania’s most recent smoking survey, conducted by the Public Health Institute between October and December 2022, show. The new tobacco products, as they are called, are a „gimmick” of the tobacco industry, which has managed to circumvent all the regulations in force and trigger a smoking epidemic among teenagers, Ramona Brad, president of the civic initiative „2035 without smoking”, explained to G4Media.

Although they are the latest fad among young people, new tobacco products are still unregulated in Romania. The tobacco industry has taken advantage of a legislative vacuum and has pushed these products onto the market, bypassing all existing restrictions. With the exception of TV ads, new tobacco products can be promoted aggressively through street advertising, online or promotional campaigns. They can be delivered by courier – bypassing the age limit and smoked indoors. In addition, new tobacco products are promoted as a healthy alternative to traditional cigarettes, although several studies show they are not risk-free.

„Although the industry often portrays heated tobacco products as low-risk compared to conventional tobacco products, claiming that they help smokers quit, there are worrying trends in popularity among young people. Evidence also shows that many users are becoming dual users, despite intending to cut down on the use of another tobacco product. Like other tobacco products, heated tobacco products contain nicotine, an addictive substance, and evidence shows that they emit chemicals, including several toxic substances,” claims a European Commission report.

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The Romanian Public Health Directorate also warns that this behavior is likely to undo all the efforts made so far and „renormalize” smoking.

„The marketing and sale of these devices may allow tobacco companies to circumvent bans on advertising and consumption in public places. Tobacco companies have mounted aggressive marketing campaigns to introduce heated tobacco products to consumers. Heating devices are marketed as sophisticated, high-tech products that offer users a way to enjoy low-risk, smoke-free tobacco products. As part of the promotion strategy, social media marketing was a key element. According to data from the latest WHO report on newly emerging products, there is a risk that the use of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products in public places where smoking is banned will re-normalize smoking in public places,” says a recent analysis by the Public Health Directorate.

This is at a time when Romania has one of the highest smoking rates in the European Union, at 32%, with five million smokers of traditional cigarettes. In 2020, 7% of Europeans aged 15-24 had tried heated tobacco products at least once and 2% were current users. That translates into sales of almost €3 billion in 2019 at EU level, or 2% of the tobacco market, according to a European Commission report.

While the European Commission plans restrictions, Romania is doing nothing

The way new tobacco products have proliferated in Romania is true for several European countries and has been based on a legislative vacuum. In Romania, tobacco products were defined in a 2002 law, when the concepts of „heated tobacco” or „vaping” did not exist.

„The tobacco industry took advantage of this limited understanding and developed new products. In many European countries, legislation is starting to be brought up to date, but Romania is holding back. We tried in 2018 to restrict promotion but got stuck in the Culture Committee of the Chamber of Deputies. The tobacco industry lobby is very strong,” said Ramona Brad.

Moreover, heated tobacco benefits from lower excise duties in our country. „In 2017 the tobacco industry negotiated intensively with the Romanian government. In the end, it was agreed that excise duties for new tobacco products would be six times lower. Under the pretext of investing in our country, tobacco companies manage to block both regulation and taxation”, explained Ramona Brad.

Instead, the European Commission has started to take action. Flavored and heated tobacco products will be banned from October and tax increases are announced. Specifically, the EU wants to propose a tax on e-cigarettes as part of a reorganization of taxation of the entire tobacco industry, according to a draft European Commission document. The new tax regime would bring the taxation of new tobacco products such as e-cigarettes and heated tobacco in line with that of traditional cigarettes and would also double the level of excise duties on cigarettes.

„The smoking rate in the EU remains high at around 25%. In response, we have set a very clear target – to create a smoke-free generation in Europe, with less than 5% of people using tobacco by 2040,” said Stella Kyriakides, commissioner for health and food safety.