How tobacco companies use old tricks to draw younger users to smoking

About 37 million children ages 13 to 15 around the world use tobacco, according to a 2024 report from the World Health Organization.

In 2023, e-cigarettes were the most commonly used tobacco product in the US, with 7.7% of middle school and high school students reporting e-cigarette use. Cigarettes were the next most common, with 1.6% of middle- and high school students saying they had consumed them in the past month.

Research shows that most people who use tobacco start in childhood.

I am a public health researcher who studies the different ways in which corporations influence adolescent health, with current projects focused on identifying sources of exposure to tobacco marketing among adolescents and young adults.

Over the past decade, I’ve researched ways in which tobacco companies market to children and young adults.

Health harms

Smoking is harmful to every organ in the human body and is known to cause many types of cancers and heart disease, among other problems. Nicotine, by itself, in products like e-cigarettes and oral pouches, is harmful to adolescent brain development.

The adolescent brain develops into early adulthood, especially in the prefrontal cortex. This part of the brain is involved in higher cognitive...

Read more