About 70% of flavored e-cigarette users in Ukraine know that they are banned in Ukraine, but only 2.2% of consumers have stopped using them after the ban. This was announced at a press conference on the results of the national survey "What Ukrainians think about initiatives in the field of smoking control", which was conducted by the sociological service of the Razumkov Center on April 2-20 by order of the public organization "European Choice of Ukraine", reports UNN.
Details
Most respondents started using nicotine-containing products with cigarettes. At the same time, we are concerned about the increasing consumption of flavored e-cigarettes, although their sale in Ukraine has been completely banned for almost a year. The problem is the weak control of the circulation of flavored e-cigarettes, which are currently sold completely uncontrolled
According to him, e-cigarette manufacturers have found a way to circumvent the law by offering consumers so-called self-mixes, when they buy a set of components and mix them together themselves.
Such products may be dangerous at all, because the concentration of harmful or even prohibited substances cannot be controlled. We need better control of circulation and educational work so that consumers are aware of the risks
The volume of refill containers for electronic cigarettes, according to Ukrainian legislation, cannot exceed 10 ml, the volume of disposable cartridges - 2 ml. Only a quarter of respondents use the volumes allowed by law.
According to the survey, if flavored sticks are banned, except for tobacco flavor, less than 9% of users of these products answered that they would stop using tobacco and nicotine products, 17.6% of consumers will try to find flavored prohibited sticks, and 33.8% said that they will switch to legal tobacco flavors. 12.7% of consumers are ready to switch to cigarettes, and another 8.3% ˗ to illegal flavored electronic cigarettes.
Given that more than 65% of the stick market is made up of flavored sticks, the transition of a significant proportion of consumers of this product to the shadow segment (e-cigarettes or contraband sticks) in the event of a ban will lead to multi-billion dollar losses to the state budget, negative consequences for the economy and an increase in the level of the illegal market. Regarding the statement about the cessation of tobacco products in the event of such a ban, it should be treated with caution - unfortunately, only a small proportion of smokers actually quit using tobacco and nicotine, even if they have such intentions
Only 18% of respondents consider the ban on flavors to be an effective way to reduce smoking. While more than two-thirds (66%) agreed that consumers will simply find workarounds, such as buying flavored capsules for use with nicotine-containing products. Among respondents who regularly use flavored nicotine-containing products, more than 80% do not consider the ban on flavors to be an effective way to reduce the level.
Society expects from state policy not only prohibitions, but also more systematic educational work. Only 16% of respondents believe that the Ukrainian government is making progress in reducing the number of smokers in the country. Experience with e-cigarettes has proved that bans are not always effective — we also need control of circulation and informing both young people and adults
Addition
The face-to-face survey was conducted in all regions of Ukraine among 1,507 respondents aged 18 and over in the territories controlled by the government of Ukraine, using a stratified multi-stage sample with random selection at the first stages of sample formation and a quota method of selecting respondents at the final stage. The structure of the sample population reproduces the demographic structure of the adult population of the territories where the survey was conducted as of the beginning of 2022.
How to quit smoking: 8 steps to quit a bad habit31.05.25, 13:00 • [views_4118]