Young people in Bulgaria use less alcohol and cigarettes, but more and more modern drugs. They all carry risks, but one product is particularly dangerous. It even leads to psychosis and schizophrenia, they write in their material about “Deutsche VeleAlexander Detev and Margarita Nikolova.
A number of studies indicate that young people in Europe are increasingly less likely to use alcohol and cigarettes. At the same time, however, their alternatives are gaining more and more popularity. And while the authorities have been trying to crack down on the recreational use of vaping for several years now, electronic cigarettes and nicotine pouches (also called pouches) are increasingly finding their way into the pockets of young people. What are the risks and how can their use be limited?
Nicotine that can be taken anywhere
“You need it all the time. It’s available everywhere – even on the plane or in the operating room. It’s always in your pocket,” says Hristina*. She has been using nicotine patches for a year and says they have become a part of her daily life. “After I eat, I take one. In the morning when I wake up. Or when I’m bored,” says the doctor.
Christina is a doctor in a hospital abroad. Nicotine pouches prove to be a helper even when he is at work.
“Because I have long shifts, I have to react as soon as I get a call. This way I recover, I become more focused. The effect is like coffee, but it starts to work in seconds.”
However, the doctor realizes that he is developing an addiction and wants to limit the use of the nicotine product.
“The problem is that the concentration of nicotine in this product is very high and you are easily addicted. We know that nicotine is the second most addictive substance after heroin,” she explains. And she points out the negative effects: “It hurts your gums. The juices from this nicotine also flow into the stomach, which, in addition to causing reflux, is certainly not useful,” she summarizes. Added to this are the well-known effects of nicotine on the vascular system and reproductive abilities.
“Snus (tobacco pouches, which are banned throughout the EU except in Sweden, nicotine pouches are considered a legal substitute – b.a.) makes me sick, I really don’t understand how others do it,” says Peter*. But many of his friends use them. And not only. “A border guard who was checking my documents at the airport had six boxes lined up in front of him. I watched him gag, he obviously uses it all the time. These types of people can’t go smoke, but they can use this alternative anywhere .”
The harms of e-cigarettes are still unclear
As we talk to Peter, he has an electronic cigarette in his hand. For about a year, she has been his constant companion when he goes out with friends for a drink. And while he claims he hasn’t developed an addiction because he doesn’t smoke it in his daily life, he understands why e-cigarettes are everywhere.
“Vapes have become an alternative to hookah. Their ads are everywhere on social networks,” says Peter, who is an economist. “Influencers and models organize games and give them away. They have that ‘cool factor’. One of the brands’ ad campaign is ‘The New Sexy’. And it’s becoming trendy with teenagers.”
In its publication, the World Health Organization (WHO) notes that smoking among teenagers in Europe has continued to decline in recent years. At the same time, however, the WHO observes a growth in the use of new tobacco and nicotine products – including electronic cigarettes. According to a study by scientists from Finland, the USA and the WHO, which analyzed data from 32 European countries, 13.3% of girls and boys between the ages of 15 and 16 used cigarettes, 10.6% – electronic cigarettes, and 27, 3% – both.
“In Bulgaria, cigarettes are the most used nicotine products, followed by e-cigarettes,” Alexander Panayotov, who heads the National Focus Center for Drugs and Drug Addictions (NFC) at the National Center for Public Health and Analysis, told DV. Panayotov also emphasized that the extensive advertising campaign of e-cigarettes is contributing to the growth in use. In the case of hookahs, for example, the frequent use is due to the large supply in establishments, the sociologist explains. Regarding nicotine pouches, he says their use is growing, although they are not as widespread. “But they are something modern,” adds Panayotov.
The head of the NFCN also noticed another interesting trend among young people – the use of marijuana is decreasing.
“My likely explanation for the reduced use of cannabis is the high availability of other smoking products – e-cigarettes, tobacco heating devices, hookahs,” he says. At the same time, it is important to note that vapes containing hexahydrocannabinol (HHC), which is an alternative to marijuana and its main active ingredient – tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) – are also gaining popularity.
But how harmful are e-cigarettes? As Johns Hopkins University notes in its publication, “there is no doubt that vaping exposes you to fewer toxic chemicals than smoking traditional cigarettes.” At the same time, however, the long-term effects have not yet been sufficiently studied, noted the University of Baltimore.
More and more pulmonologists are raising the alarm about lung disease caused by e-cigarettes. Doctors still aren’t sure what causes it, and what the effects of many of the chemicals in the devices are, especially in the long term.
The sky gas problem is not solved
And while the potential health consequences of using e-cigarettes are still the subject of debate among doctors, scientists and manufacturers, experts are unequivocal about the serious harms of using another substance popular with young people. This is exactly the heavenly gas.
“It hits you pretty hard for the first few seconds. Then it keeps you in a slightly weird state. When mixed with alcohol, it even makes you feel inadequate for a while afterwards.” This is how Stoyan*, a young IT specialist, describes the effect of the heavenly gas to DV. A large number of people from his environment use it regularly, some of them in considerable quantities and at home. The young man tells of a close friend of his who was directly knocked unconscious at a disco by a single balloon and suffered a head injury.
Stoyan says that the use of balloons with paradise gas is “extremely financially unprofitable” – because of the short-term effect and the high price of about 10 BGN per balloon in nightclubs. However, young people continue to throw their money away, using “momentary happiness” as an occasion for social contact. “It’s now fashionable to treat a lady to a balloon, not a drink,” adds the young man jokingly.
The IT specialist is convinced that the sale and consumption of kerosene has not decreased with the introduction of restrictions this year and despite frequent checks. “The profits they generate, especially the bars, from the sale of balloons are huge. They can easily pay the fine,” he adds.
Doctors working in toxicology and psychiatry departments say that while their cases have decreased, they are far from gone. In addition to restaurants, many people also use paradisal gas at home. According to a 2022 NFCN study, about 40% of students and 20% of schoolchildren in Bulgaria have tried paradise gas at least once, explains Alexander Panayotov.
“This is a very disgusting fashion,” says anesthesiologist Miroslav Nenkov. “Paradise gas can replace vital oxygen in the lungs, it can reduce the number of white blood cells, but worst of all, when combined with marijuana, it causes psychosis.”
The latter confirms to DV and a psychiatrist from a capital hospital who has encountered similar patients. In some people the psychosis is short-lived – 24 hours or 48 hours – in others the visual hallucinations remain. There are patients who are subsequently diagnosed with schizophrenia. “Low price and poor quality can kill our children,” warns doctor Nenkov.
What is prevention?
“Vape ads are everywhere – Instagram, billboards. This has to be stopped, just like it happened with cigarettes,” says Petar. Although cigarettes still dominate the market for nicotine products, they are not as popular among the youngest. “Cigarettes are no longer ‘cool’,” summarizes Peter. Regarding nicotine pouches, Hristina sees no other solution than a ban. “It is very accessible and can be used everywhere,” she believes.
About paradise gas, doctor Nenkov says something that is valid for the abuse of all harmful substances by young people: “Restrictions will not do it, the price will simply go up. It will do with education. But the home comes first.”
Aleksandar Panayotov from the NFCSNN summarizes: “It should be borne in mind that prevention should not only be aimed specifically at young people, but also at their parents, teachers. Because the environment around students is very important.”
*The names of some of the interlocutors have been changed at their request.
Working on the post:
2023-12-17 06:38:00
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