“Everyone with a cigarette in their mouth” (Wanda de Kanter, 2018)
“Children are referred to by the industry itself as ‘replacement smokers.’”
In this column, pulmonologist Wanda de Kanter, chair of the Youth Smoking Prevention Foundation, argues that the tobacco industry systematically accustoms children to having a stick in their mouths: from pacifiers and lollipops to shisha pens, the e-cigarette, and ultimately the regular cigarette. This is how someone becomes addicted to nicotine from a young age, often ending in a heart attack or COPD.
Alternatives such as e-cigarettes and heated tobacco actually perpetuate this habit, partly due to dual use, and the fact that we do not yet know how safe these products are in the long term—because that simply cannot be determined yet. The media also comes under fire: journalists are bombarded with phone calls and emails from industry marketers. Her conclusion: this marketing strategy must stop.
