Nofumadores.org calls on all political parties to assume the “commitment” to “promote” the reform of the anti-smoking law in the next legislature and emphasizes that the project, which had already reached the Congress of Deputies, “has been compromised” by the electoral advance.
This was demanded in a statement in which he asked that the next Government “retake” this initiative as a “priority” of public health, “moving forward” towards “effective” protection against all products related to tobacco and nicotine, “with special attention to advertising, attractive aromas for adolescents and the protection of minors.”
“Public health policies cannot remain anchored in a reality that has already changed. We ask all political parties for a state pact on this matter and to commit to recovering this reform. We ask the next Government not to allow all the work done to remain a dead letter. The protection of health, especially that of our children and adolescents, cannot depend on electoral calendars nor have political color. Having reduced the number of smokers is a collective achievement, but it would be a serious mistake to consider that the battle is won as long as they continue. new forms of consumption and addiction appearing,” demanded its president, Raquel Fernández Megina.
In this context, the entity assessed this Thursday “positively” the decrease in daily tobacco consumption in Spain, but warned that the data “should not be interpreted as a definitive victory against nicotine addiction” and sees it necessary to “broaden the focus” of public health policies to incorporate new forms of consumption, “especially” electronic cigarettes and other products containing nicotine.
When analyzing the 2025 Spanish Health Survey, prepared by the Ministry of Health and the National Institute of Statistics (INE), it was highlighted that it reveals that 15.4% of the population aged 15 and over smokes daily, compared to the 16.6% recorded in 2023, a “historic minimum” in a series that began in 1993 with a prevalence of 32.1%.
“That fewer and fewer people smoke cigarettes is excellent news, but we cannot confuse the decrease in smoking with the end of nicotine addiction. The industry has diversified its products and its ways of consumption. Therefore, at Nofumadores.org we believe that the time has come to start talking about ‘nicotism’. The problem is no longer only in the traditional cigarette, but in all the ways in which nicotine can continue to generate dependence,” said the president of Nofumadores.org, Raquel Fernández Megina.
For the association, the results demonstrate the “advances” made over recent decades in the “fight” against smoking, demonstrating that the prevention measures stipulated in the Tobacco Laws of 2005 and 2010 “have worked”, but also “highlight the need to adapt prevention strategies and laws to an increasingly diversified market for nicotine products.”
“We cannot celebrate that smoking has reached historic lows while more than one in four adolescents acknowledge having vaped in the last month. Although not all vapes admit to containing nicotine, even in very small doses, these data should worry us deeply. We are dealing with products that are presented with flavors, designs and formats that are especially attractive to young people. “We cannot allow the progress made against conventional tobacco to be clouded by the appearance and normalization of new forms of consumption,” said Fernández. Megina.
The organization recalls that vaping products “cannot be considered harmless” and that exposure to nicotine during adolescence “constitutes a public health problem due to its capacity to generate dependence.”
Nofumadores.org defends that prevention “must evolve at the same pace” as the products marketed by the industry and that reducing the consumption of conventional cigarettes “does not eliminate the risks associated with heated tobacco products, electronic devices with nicotine and other forms of administration of this substance.”
In the association’s opinion, focusing the debate “exclusively” on the percentage of people who smoke “may offer an incomplete view of the problem, especially among new generations.”
“The industry knows that the traditional cigarette is losing ground and has found new ways to maintain its business. Devices, flavors and commercial strategies change, but nicotine remains a highly addictive substance. Our obligation is to prevent a new generation from being trapped in that dependence, regardless of the product used to consume it,” denounced its president.
(SERVIMEDIA)