With disappointing results in a recent survey on smoking levels in Luxembourg, The Cancer Foundation has called on the government to implement the National Plan to Combat Tobacco, and bring forward passage of a new bill to strengthen tobacco control, including the use of shock images and a telephone ‘quitline’ number on cigarette packages.
The Foundation said that it also hopes for a substantial increase in the price of cigarettes and tobacco products, saying it remains the most effective means for reducing tobacco consumption in the long term, especially among young people
The survey found that the number of smokers overall in Luxembourg has not really fallen over the last few years, while there has been a worrying increase in the number of young smokers aged 18 to 24.
20% of Luxembourgs still light up, compared to 21% in 2015, with men more highly represented than women — 23% of men smoke, whereas 18% of the women surveyed said that they did.
The number of young smokers has risen 3% since 2015, while those aged 25 50 34 recorded the lowest rate ever observed, with a marked drop from 29% to 25% in one year.
Shishas have grown in popularity, particularly among the young, of whom 20% say they smoke shisha.
And the e-cigarette may not be delivering the panacea that was hoped for. According to the Cancer Foudnation, there are around 4,000 ‘vapoteurs’ in Luxembourg, of whom almost 80% say they smoke real cigarettes in parallel with using their electronic one.
At the same time, more than half of smokers said they would like to stop, with 21% saying they’d like to reduce. Only a quarter of smokers were happy
