Smoking, the ISS alarm: "Heated tobacco and vaping. Boom in poly-consumption among young people"

The new products that have joined traditional cigarettes in recent years are increasing the number of consumers among the youngest (with almost 40% of high school students using them) and have effectively cancelled out the downward trend that was seen among adult smokers. This is revealed by data released by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità on the occasion of No Tobacco Day , celebrated on May 31 .

“The composite use of smoking products represents a complex challenge for public health,” said ISS President Rocco Bellantone , “because it cannot be excluded that the composite use of traditional cigarettes and electronic devices, with or without nicotine, translates into an increase in health risks.”

7.5% of Italian students between the ages of 11 and 13 smoke or vape : this percentage rises to 37.4% among students between the ages of 14 and 17. In particular, in the last 30 days, boys have used a product among traditional cigarettes, heated tobacco products and electronic cigarettes more than girls among middle school students, while in high school it was girls who consumed more than boys. This is what emerges from two studies involving over 8 thousand young people between the ages of 11 and 17, coordinated by the National Center for Addiction and Doping of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità , on a representative sample of 3,441 middle school students and 4,861 high school students.

The phenomenon of polyconsumption, or the combined use of multiple products, has almost doubled in both age groups : if in 2022 it was equal to 26.0% among 11-13 year-olds and 38.7% among 14-17 year-olds, in 2025 this percentage is equal to 45.5% among middle school students and 70.7% among high school students. Among the products tested by Italian students, sachets containing nicotine also stand out: 8.2% of students between 14 and 17 years of age declare having tried them, and this figure is sharply increasing compared to what was recorded in 2024 (3.8%).

The estimate of consumption in adults and the elderly was obtained from the PASSI and PASSI d'Argento Surveillance data coordinated by the National Center for Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (CNaPPS) of the ISS. In Italy, the majority of adults aged 18-69 do not smoke (59%) or have stopped smoking (17%), but 1 in 4 Italians is a regular smoker (24%), figures unchanged in recent years but not without "critical issues". In fact, in the face of a slowly decreasing trend in the prevalence of traditional cigarette smokers, the use of electronic cigarettes (mostly with nicotine) and heated tobacco devices is increasing, both among smokers, who thus become addicted to the multiple use of tobacco products, and among "non-smokers" or "ex-smokers", who, despite never having been (or having been in the past) exposed to the harm of cigarette smoke, are now exposed to the risks associated with the inhalation of the substances used in electronic cigarettes, to the residual risks of tobacco combustion (which is still present in HTPs) and to nicotine addiction.

Last year in Italy, approximately 44,831 new diagnoses of lung cancer were estimated, and today we know that cigarette smoking is responsible for 8-9 lung tumors out of 10. The Airc Foundation reminds us of this on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day.

The American Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, as part of the Global Burden of Disease Study - explains the Foundation - calculated that, in 2021 worldwide, tobacco consumption caused 11% of total deaths (equal to 7.2 million deaths). Not only that: cigarette smoking is also strongly associated with cancers of the oral cavity and throat , esophagus, pancreas, colon, bladder, prostate, kidney, breast, ovaries and some types of leukemia and cardio-cerebrovascular diseases.

Smoking is also a risk factor for other cancers , cardiovascular and respiratory diseases . According to Aiom estimates, in Italy over 93,000 deaths each year are attributable to this bad habit, with costs equal to over 26 billion euros .

24.5% of adults (18-69 years old) smoke . A bad habit that is increasingly widespread especially among women , which corresponds to a progressive increase in lung cancer mortality: in the period 2007-2019, an excess of 16,036 deaths from lung cancer was documented in women, 16% more than expected.

Today, 75-80% of cases are diagnosed in an advanced stage , which implies reduced chances of recovery, high costs at individual and social level and a significant impact on the sustainability of the NHS .