A dangerous trend among young people: sales of disposable cigarettes are booming

They are cheap, colourful and available in a wide range of flavours. Disposable e-cigarettes are extremely popular with young people. This should come as little surprise, as the products are tailored to precisely this target group. Both online and at physical points of sale, young people are able to get their hands on disposal vapes, often without being asked to prove their age. In the first half of 2022 alone, sales of these products in Switzerland increased at a rate of 30 percent per month. A trend that is highly alarming both from a health and environmental perspective:

  • Many disposable e-cigarettes contain nicotine. There is potential for people to become addicted and the products serve as a gateway to the consumption of cigarettes as well as other tobacco and nicotine products by young people.
  • The disposable products waste resources. Disposable cigarettes contain aluminium, plastic, heavy metals and a lithium-ion battery. For each individual device, new resources are required for one-time use.
  • The aforementioned resources also require proper disposal. However, for reasons of convenience, the devices often find their way into the household waste or are carelessly thrown away, meaning that toxic substances can easily be released into the environment.

While a ban on sales to minors is already in place in nine cantons, a nationwide ban across Switzerland is not planned until 2024. Free. Fair. Future. is calling on the remaining cantons to implement a ban more quickly and improve age checks at the point of sale. Otherwise, there is a risk that we may see a marked increased in the number of young people addicted to nicotine.

Further information on this issue can be found in the Kassensturz report (in German): https://www.srf.ch/sendungen/kassensturz-espresso/kassensturz/wegwerf-elektronik-die-einweg-e-zigarette-eine-umweltsuende-die-suechtig-macht

Under our Federal Constitution, children and young people have the right to the special protection of their integrity and to the encouragement of their development. Nevertheless, tobacco and nicotine products are omnipresent in Switzerland. Children and young people are therefore not afforded adequate protection to allow them to decide freely and independently. Saying that they are responsible for their own health does not go far enough. Society and all stakeholders must therefore work together to ensure that children and young people can grow up in a Switzerland in which they are free from harmful influences.