Social media links to teen smoking
Addiction Economy Thought for Today - the article below perhaps shows the role of predatory marketing in driving uptake of additive substances and subsequent addiction.
"Researchers found that spending more than two hours a day on social media platforms increased the likelihood of a teenager smoking by two and a half times. They were also more than three times more likely to vape when compared with their peers who used social media for one hour to less than 30 minutes a day".
That is a surprising finding really given the relative small difference in time on line and the research I think doesn't indicate causation, but I'll take it to propose that Predatory Marketing really works. The research that Joe Woof did on vapes indicated that the paid and unpaid 'influencer' network promoting vapes on social media is rampant as well as a 'culture wars' style hashtag#savemyvape campaigns often promoted by industry and right wing think tanks.
But I can't agree with the solution proposed by lead author Amrit Kaur Purba, PhD “Our findings advocate for the regulation of risky content on social media and tailored guidance for teens on social media use so they can navigate the complex social media environment. Educators, health professionals and care givers must enhance their social media literacy to prepare teens for the realities of the social media landscape. We need to model healthy online habits, instead of resorting to blanket bans and overprotection, to help young people navigate the digital world.”
Blanket bans of promotion of vapes online is necessary and as is a blanket ban of the use of the bright colours and flavours which are shamelessly targeted at children and young people. 'Social media literacy training' won't make much of an impression when vapes are ubiquitous on every high street and the online marketplace is a total Wild West and vape promotion online and direct is a free for all.
If interested our analysis and recommendations on vapes is here:
https://bit.ly/3vr5wo2
And our White Paper on the Economic Model of Addiction, which shows the role of Predatory Marketing and other aspects of industry activity is here:
https://bit.ly/3x5yTgo
https://lnkd.in/eWaN2Wgs