San Marino Health Authority Raises Concerns over E-cigarette Marketing

According to a report by San Marino TV on December 19th, the San Marino Health Authority has issued a warning regarding the need to increase public awareness and strengthen regulation in order to prevent e-cigarettes from being marketed using new flavors, fragrances, and cartoon characters. The World Health Organization recently highlighted that the tobacco industry is using these tactics to attract young people to e-cigarettes, raising concerns expressed by the San Marino Health Authority.

Prior to this, the agency had conducted a decade-long study on the subject of e-cigarettes. Comparing data from 2014 to 2018 and 2022 reveals that the prevalence of e-cigarette usage among adolescents has nearly doubled.

The head of the health department, Claudio Muccioli, has confirmed that e-cigarettes have become a common habit among our youth. According to our latest data from a survey conducted in 2022, the number of high school students in their second and fourth year using e-cigarettes is steadily increasing: 35% of respondents claim to have occasionally used them, while 16% use them daily. It is worth noting that the number of e-cigarette users at the age of 15 surpasses those at 14 years old.

The San Marino Health Authority has issued a warning, stating that marketing strategies are being used to lure more teenagers into the trend of e-cigarette usage, and is calling for stronger regulation on this matter.

The students we interviewed informed us that despite being underage, they were easily able to procure e-cigarettes.

San Marino is an independent state located within the territory of Italy. It is completely surrounded by Italy and is the fifth smallest country in terms of land area and the third least populous country in the world.