The use of e-cigarettes is increasing among schoolchildren, while water pipe smoking is decreasing.
These are some of the results of the new survey School Students' Drug Habits 2015 from the Central Association for Alcohol and Drug Education, CAN.
Smoking
Last year, the decline in smoking among schoolchildren stopped, but this year's survey shows a decrease again. 9,5% of boys and 14,4% of girls smoke. The corresponding figures for the second year of upper secondary school are 24,6% and 27,2%. Just over 8% of boys in upper secondary school and 11% of girls smoke every day or almost every day. Smoking sometimes is therefore more common than smoking often.
Snus use
Snus use among young people remains at about the same level as the previous three years, and in the second year of high school there is even a slight increase. In the ninth grade, 9,8% of boys and 1,5% of girls use snus. The corresponding proportions in the second year of high school are 22,7% and 3,8% respectively. The use of snus by boys and girls differs in that boys use snus more often, while most of the girls who use snus say that they use snus sometimes.
The majority of girls who use snuff also smoke, less than 1% of girls in both grade 9 and grade 2 of high school use snuff exclusively. Among boys, it is more common to both smoke and snuff. 13% of boys in high school both smoke and snuff, 11% smoke but do not snuff and 9% snuff but do not smoke.
E-cigarettes
This year, CAN asked schoolchildren for the second time whether they had used e-cigarettes. Compared to 2014, e-cigarette use has increased. 36% of boys and 26% of girls in the second year of upper secondary school have used e-cigarettes at some point. 7% and 5% respectively had done so in the last 30 days. E-cigarette smoking is three to four times as common among young people who smoke regular cigarettes as among non-smoking peers.
Hookah
The popularity of hookah among young people seems to be declining. The proportion of those who have tried hookah in grade 9 has halved since 2009, and there has also been a sharp decrease in high school. 21,7% of boys and 21,2% of girls in grade 9 have smoked hookah at some point. The corresponding proportions in high school are 43,3% and 39,3%, respectively.
