In New Zealand, 15% of 18-to-24-year-olds smoke daily and 20% smoke at least once a month.
These figures suggest a normalisation of smoking amongst young people that we need to do more about, says Janet Hoek of the tobacco control research centre ASPIRE 25.
Photo: Unsplash / fotografierende
Professor Janet Hoek Photo: Supplied
Read ASPIRE 25's latest report on research for a tobacco-free Aotearoa here
The tobacco industry tries to encourage teenagers to take up smoking with marketing strategies that present it as a normal or even aspirational thing to do, Hoek tells Jesse Mulligan.
There is evidence of actors being paid by tobacco companies to smoke in movies in the 1980s and it's very likely this strategy is still being used now. she says.
The US Surgeon General has declared a causal relationship between young person exposure to smoking in movies and them taking it up, Hoek says.
"This is not just a casual thing that kids see in movies or on television, this is something that actually influences their behaviour."
In addition, there is very aggressive marketing of new nicotine products like vaping products, which are targetted at young people.
Gadgets like capsule cigarettes - which have a flavour bead embedded in the filter of the cigarette which releases perfume when crushed - make tobacco - which is usually not initially palatable - smoother and easier to inhale.
Smoke-free Aotearoa 2025 is an achievable goal if we urgently start looking at what we can do in New Zealand to reduce the tobacco industry's ability to appeal to young people, Hoek says.
The message needs to be that cigarettes are not a 'normal' product and smoking is not a 'normal' behaviour.
"If we can keep young people smoke-free up until the age of 25 the chance of them taking up smoking beyond that age is very rare."
We also need to reduce the availability of tobacco products, she says.
"It seems inconsistent for us to tell young people smoking carries some appalling risks but on the other hand allowing tobacco to be sold in around 7,000 or 8,000 retail outlets."
