Today, cigarettes are far from the only path to nicotine addiction. Manufacturers market vapes, nicotine snus (pouches), and tobacco sticks as fundamentally different products, yet they all serve a common purpose—delivering high doses of nicotine to the body and causing persistent addiction.
Of particular concern is the rapid rise in combined use: among adult users, about 20% use two or more products simultaneously, and among young people aged 18–29, this figure has already reached 36%.
What happens when multiple products are used simultaneously
The body does not distinguish between the source of the psychoactive substance—whether from a cigarette, a vaporizer, or a pouch. None of these products is safe. Combining them drastically increases the total daily dose of nicotine, causing:
- a critical strain on the cardiovascular system;
- dysfunction and destructive changes in brain function;
- significantly more severe withdrawal symptoms when attempting to quit.
Nicotine dependence is officially recognized as a mental and behavioral disorder, so doctors emphasize the critical danger of delaying regulatory measures.
“New tobacco and nicotine products are marketed with misleading promises of ‘less harm.’ As a result, a phenomenon known as polyconsumption is on the rise: people use several products simultaneously—which leads to uncontrolled doses of nicotine entering the body. The state must protect its population from addiction, premature illness, and mortality. Prevention is far easier and cheaper than treatment,” emphasizes Otto Stoyka, a physician at the Kyiv City Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and an expert on tobacco control.
The Scale of the Threat and Legislative Solutions
According to the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS), 17.6% of Ukrainian schoolchildren aged 13–15 already use tobacco or nicotine products, becoming addicted long before they realize the consequences.
The following legislative initiatives will help halt the epidemic of chemical addiction:
- Bill No. 12091—provides for a complete ban on flavored tobacco sticks for heating systems;
- Bill No. 14110-d — establishes direct regulation of the nicotine snus market, prohibits its sale to minors, and imposes marketing restrictions.
The Verkhovna Rada must immediately support these bills and protect the health of young Ukrainians.