In France, young people are reducing their use of tobacco and increasing their use of electronic cigarettes

The 2022 ESCAPAD survey indicates that young French people are consuming less tobacco, alcohol and cannabis, but shows a sharp increase in the use of electronic cigarettes, particularly among girls.

For its ninth edition since 2000, the ESCAPAD survey assesses the consumption of 17-year-olds during Defense and Citizenship Day (JDC). A sample of 23,701 17-year-olds was thus questioned in March 2022 on the consumption of tobacco, electronic cigarettes, alcohol and illicit drugs [1]The context of the 2020 health crisis was, however, felt in the health and mental health data also collected on this occasion.

Sharp drop in smoking, boom in e-cigarettes

While overall consumption of psychoactive substances (PSS) is down compared to the 2017 survey, the most significant decline observed concerns tobacco products. Experimentation during one's life fell by 13 points (46.5 % compared to 59 % in 2017 and 77.6 % in 2000), while daily use fell by 10 points (15.6 % compared to 25.1 % in 2017 and 41.1 % in 2000). A trend that is observed among both boys and girls, even if boys continue to be more numerous among daily smokers (17 % compared to 14.2 %). The average age of entry into daily use is delayed to 15.3 years in 2022, compared to 15.1 years in 2017. Although declining, tobacco use remains very present among young people in France, compared to other high-income countries.

The experimentation of shisha is also in decline, since it affects 33.3% of young people in 2022 compared to 49.9% in 2017. Recent use of shisha (in the month) mainly concerns boys.

The use of electronic cigarettes is, however, clearly increasing among young people. Daily use tripled between 2017 and 2022, from 1.9 % to 6.2 %, while experimentation increased from 52.4 % to 56.9 %, surpassing that of tobacco. Girls are more involved in this trend, with daily use among them increasing sixfold, from 0.9 % in 2017 to 6.3 % in 2022, and recent use increasing by 19 %. Experimentation with electronic cigarettes is becoming earlier, at 15 years in 2022 compared to 15.4 years in 2017, but remains six months later than that of smoked cigarettes. The proportion of exclusive vapers who have not experimented with tobacco increases from 14.6 % to 24.7 % in 2022 for experimentation, and more than doubles, from 2.4 % in 2017 to 5.8 % in 2022, for daily use. However, vape smokers remain very common among 17-year-olds, with 55.4 % of daily vapers also being daily tobacco smokers.

Decrease in consumption of alcohol, cannabis and illicit drugs

Alcohol consumption is down at all levels of use. For both girls and boys, one in five 17-year-olds (19.4 %) has never experimented with alcohol, a figure that is steadily increasing. Heavy occasional drinking (more than 5 units of alcohol per occasion) is nevertheless more common among boys and is becoming commonplace among non-regular users.

In decline since 2014, the different uses of cannabis are all in decline. Experimentation has fallen from 39.1 % in 2017 to 29.9 % in 2022, while regular and daily use has halved. Since most cannabis users have already experimented with tobacco, the decline in cannabis could come from a lack of interest in tobacco products. Although still marginal, experimentation with cannabis without having experimented with tobacco has tripled, from 1.8 % in 2017 to 6.2 % in 2022. Experimentation with cannabidiol (CBD) was collected for the first time and concerns 17.1 % of 17-year-olds, including 14 % in the last 12 months.

Experiments with other illicit drugs are all decreasing, to a greater or lesser extent. Misuse of products is increasing for experimentation with poppers, and experimentation with nitrous oxide (2,3 %) is being explored for the first time.

Trends marked by the health crisis

Although encouraging, particularly on the issue of tobacco, the trends shown by this survey will need to be confirmed by the results of future studies. The context of the ESCAPAD 2022 survey was marked by two years of health crisis where opportunities for conviviality, and therefore for experimenting with psychoactive substances, were rarer. The deterioration of physical health indicators, more noticeable among girls, is also observed in terms of mental health, with suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts experiencing sharp increases. All these factors could contribute to further increases in the use of SPAs, but do not currently seem to be halting the decline in smoking among young people.

Keywords: youth, ESCAPAD, hookah, cannabis, electronic cigarettes, CBD.

MF