Young people in Switzerland encounter tobacco or alcohol every 65 metres

In Switzerland, young people are legally only allowed to buy tobacco products from the age of 16 – in most cantons even from the age of 18. In addition, on February 13, 2022, the Swiss electorate accepted the popular initiative “Children and youth without tobacco advertising”. This is intended to ban tobacco advertising that may reach children and young people. Nevertheless, young people in particular are encouraged to consume tobacco or alcohol on a daily basis, according to a study by Sucht Schweiz.

This was commissioned by the health department in the canton of Geneva. Compared to Switzerland, stricter rules already apply here for advertising such products. Despite this, the study found that alcohol, tobacco and nicotine products were “an alarming normality in young people’s daily lives”.

On their way to school, 16 to 18-year-olds encountered an average of 15 stimuli per kilometer. On average, this results in one stimulus per 65 metres. This is even worse in the digital space. The authors of the study arrive at an average of 10 stimuli per weekday and even 15 per day and younger at the weekend.

It is mainly peers who post consumption incentives on social media. The second most common reason young people are encouraged to consume is through influencers. “All of these incentives reflect the normalization of consumption and may present it as acceptable to young people,” explains Nicole Egli Anthonioz, research leader at Sucht Schweiz.

The influence of advertising on consumption is now sufficiently documented. But what does the mere encounter with a product – such as a beer can lying around – mean for young people? “Research shows that repeated and unconscious exposure can create a positive attitude towards a product,” writes Sucht Schweiz.

This includes the daily encounter with beer cans and packs of cigarettes lying around, but also highlighting the products in shops. That is why it is especially dangerous if young people come into contact with such products and their consumption on a daily basis.

According to a 2017 study by the Federal Statistical Office, 22.5 percent of children and adolescents between the ages of 15 and 19 in Switzerland smoked. In addition, only 21 percent of the Swiss population between the ages of 15 and 24 abstain. (lion)