Business with the drug nicotine is booming

Worldwide, 1.13 billion people consume tobacco products. Half of these people will die prematurely as a result of smoking. In fact, every minute, 13 people worldwide die from the consequences of tobacco consumption! The financial damage to society is enormous: around $2 trillion is spent globally each year on healthcare costs and productivity loss caused by premature death and illness.¹⁾Cf, for example “The Tobacco Atlas” https://tobaccoatlas.org/ und “ASH Action on Smoking and Health” https://ash.org/the-problem/

At the same time, the profits of tobacco companies continue to rise. This year, the global market for tobacco products will probably achieve a turnover of 988.4 billion dollars. And an annual growth rate of 2.57 per cent is also expected over the next five years. At 872.8 billion dollars, cigarettes still have the largest share of the market volume.²⁾https://www.statista.com/outlook/cmo/tobacco-products/worldwide

The fact is: tobacco companies are drug dealers. The drug they deal in is nicotine. This is more true than ever today with the trend towards ‘smoke-free alternatives’ such as tobacco heaters, e-cigarettes or snus, as these products often no longer contain tobacco at all, but primarily the addictive nicotine in one (synthetic) form or another. The industry has always been well aware of its role, as internal company documents prove. Back in the 1960s, for example, the chief scientist at British American Tobacco (BAT) said: “… smoking is a habit of addiction … nicotine is … a very fine drug.”³⁾Bates C, Rowell A (1999): Tobacco Explained… The truth about the tobacco industry… in its own words. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/46438695_Tobacco_Explained_The_truth_about_the_tobacco_industry_in_its_own_words (ResearchGate, January 2004)

However, this in no way prevents the industry from promoting its new products as less harmful or even ‘healthier’. A claim that is completely made up out of thin air, as a whistleblower from Philip Morris International (PMI) revealed a few months ago. He said the following about PMI’s popular IQOS tobacco heaters: “They do not reduce harm. They do not reduce health risks. They do not reduce mortality. It is not proven.” Rather, according to the whistleblower, the tobacco company had exerted influence on science and politics in Japan, for example (e.g. through financial payments), in order to control scientific research and hinder political measures for tobacco control.⁴⁾Swiss association for tobacco control (13.08.2024): Philip Morris manipulates science and plans advertising campaigns to influence politics. https://www.at-schweiz.ch/en/latest-stories/news/pmi-manipulation/

The fact that tobacco multinationals do not shy away from illegal measures is further demonstrated by a court judgement from France in February 2025, where Philip Morris International was once again sentenced to pay a large fine for claiming on the internet that the IQOS tobacco heater posed a reduced risk to health.⁵⁾France 24 (20.02.2025): Tabac: Philip Morris condamné en France à 500.000 euros d’amende pour publicité illégale. https://www.france24.com/fr/info-en-continu/20250220-tabac-philip-morris-condamn%C3%A9-en-france-%C3%A0-500-000-euros-d-amende-pour-publicit%C3%A9-ill%C3%A9gale

It is particularly tragic that the new products are once again aimed at recruiting children and adolescents. This is still vehemently denied by the tobacco industry, although internal company documents show that young people are a key target group for advertising and new products. This is obvious, as the tobacco and nicotine industry’s customers are constantly dying off through the consumption of the product being sold, and people who start consuming nicotine-containing products in their youth usually remain ‘customers’ for life. This has been clearly scientifically proven.

Globally, around 50 million young people between the ages of 13 and 15 consume cigarettes or smokeless nicotine products. In 2023, more than a third of 14 to 17-year-olds in Germany stated that they had already used an e-cigarette. Between 2021 and 2022, the number of users in this age group even increased fivefold! The colourful and trendy presentation of the products, which are increasingly even found in vending machines right next to sweets and soft drinks, means that children and young people perceive nicotine products as harmless lifestyle products. The added flavourings–from vanilla to watermelon to mint–of which there are around 16,000 on the market according to the WHO, also contribute to this.

However, e-cigarettes and vapes are by no means harmless. The liquid in vapes consists mainly of propylene glycol and glycerine (i.e. not simply water vapour). In addition, there are the flavourings, of which it is not yet really clear what effect they have on the body when inhaled over the long term. The resulting aerosol can also contain carcinogenic substances such as formaldehyde and acetaldehyde.

Above all, however, these products also contain addictive nicotine, which reaches the brain via the bloodstream just a few seconds after taking a drag from the vape. Nicotine has a disruptive effect on brain maturation, particularly in adolescents, especially on memory and attention.⁶⁾7)SWR Wissen (31.05.2024): Jugend-Trend: So schädlich sind E-Zigaretten. https://www.swr.de/wissen/so-gesundheitsschaedlich-sind-e-zigaretten-100.html

Moreover, experts are particularly concerned about a new substance that is increasingly being found in e-cigarettes. It is 6-methylnicotine (6-MN), also known as metatine, a chemical nicotine analogue that may be even more addictive than conventional nicotine. This laboratory-produced nicotine is found in e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches (snus), which are also very popular with young people. Products containing 6-MN are often marketed as ‘nicotine-free’ and are easily available online without age verification.⁷⁾Swiss association for tobacco control (14.03.2025): 6-Methylnikotin (6-MN): Die Schweiz darf nicht erneut beim Jugendschutz versagen. https://www.at-schweiz.ch/de/news-medien/news/medienmitteilung-6-methylnikotin/ Swiss association for tobacco control (12.03.2025): Alarm over the marketing of 6-methyl nicotine in disposable e-cigarettes. https://www.at-schweiz.ch/en/at-blog/6-methyl-nicotine/

And the nicotine industry’s plan to gain a new customer segment is certainly working, as a study published in autumn 2024 shows that teenagers between the ages of 12 and 17 who have used e-cigarettes are five times more likely to later start smoking than their peers who have kept their hands off e-cigarettes.⁸⁾Swiss association for tobacco control (25.09.2024): Study: E-cigarettes increase smoking risk fivefold in adolescents. https://www.at-schweiz.ch/en/latest-stories/news/study-e-cigarettes-increase-smoking-risk-fivefold-in-adolescents/

In view of these recent, anything but positive developments, one really has to ask oneself how long the protection of minors will continue to be neglected and how long we will continue to simply let a nefarious drug industry have its way. The fact that the long arm of the tobacco companies still reaches far and wide is shown by the high smoking rate of 24 per cent in Switzerland by international standards, where three of the world’s most important tobacco companies (Philip Morris, Japan Tobacco International and British American Tobacco) are based.