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The proportion of Hong Kong young smokers of 25 years old or under who have used new tobacco products (NTPs), such as e-cigarettes or heated tobacco products, has surged to a record high of 85.9% in 2019-2020, according to a recent survey by the University of Hong Kong (HKU) Youth Quitline.
This is the third year in a row that showed remarkable increases in the proportion of young smokers who had tried NTPs. It was 72.9% in 2018-2019 and 57.4% in 2017-2018.
Curiosity (51.3%), peer influence (37.3%) and an intention to quit or reduce smoking (21.6%) were the most cited reasons of NTPs use among 485 of the participants. In-depth follow-up interviews were then conducted to identify the underlying causes. Most importantly, there is a misconception among the young smokers that NTPs were less hazardous to health and could help smoking cessation, which in turn encouraged them to consume even more NTPs. Other reasons of the increasing use of NTPs included the rise of online marketin