A study shows that many youngsters are becoming addicted to vaping, amid advertising aimed at them and the lack of regulatory control.
Every year, on 31 May, the world observes World No-Tobacco Day. It is a reminder that tobacco causes about seven million premature deaths globally each year. Behind every one of the deaths is a family left wondering why their loved one could not stop smoking in time. The answer almost always comes back to the same thing: addiction.
Nicotine is highly addictive. Some studies suggest that it rivals heroin. Most people who have quit smoking will testify that it was very difficult to do so. Many others have tried but have been unsuccessful.
This year’s World No-Tobacco Day campaign, Unmasking the Appeal, poses an uncomfortable question: How does an industry that loses millions of customers to premature death every year keep recruiting their replacements? The answer, increasingly, is by targeting young people.
Global progress, partly undone
