Health minister investigating ban on addictive water pipe tobacco as study shows greater risk to young people

The message from Health Minister Jakob Axel Nielsen is clear: young people are hitting the hookahs too much and the addictive tobacco used in the water pipes should be banned.

A parliamentary majority supports a ban on the sweet-flavoured tobacco used in water pipes, and Nielsen agreed measures needed to be introduced to protect the young.

‘It’s a really bad idea to have sweet addictive tobacco in water pipes and worrying that it’s become so popular among young people, which is why I’m investigating whether we can introduce a ban in Denmark,’ Nielsen said to DR News.

The move comes on the heels of a study carried out by the National Cancer Society and Maastricht University, which found young people who use water pipes are three times as likely to smoke regular cigarettes.

About 800 Danish students aged 15-16 were monitored for a year as part of the study. Most had tried smoking cigarettes, but were not regular smokers, while about half had tried smoking using a water pipe.

The study showed that boys in general used water pipes more. But it confirmed that the more any student smoked from a pipe, the higher the risk of them becoming regular cigarette smokers.

About two thirds of common tobacco used in water pipes consists of additives, and the Cancer Society would like to see a ban on sweet tobacco similar to that introduced in Germany.

‘Children and young people don’t experience it as real smoking because it tastes and smells sweet. But the smoke is dangerous – partly in and of itself and partly because water pipes provide an easier way for young people to get into heavier cigarettes,’ said Poul Dengsøe Jensen, project leader in the Cancer Society.

‘I think the tobacco should be banned like in Germany, where tobacco containing more than 25 percent sugar and other additives is illegal,’ he said.