People who start smoking before the age of 20 tend to become more dependent and have a harder time quitting. The researchers involved in the study are therefore emphatically calling for the legal minimum age for cigarette purchases to be raised.

The new study, presented at the European Heart Association meeting in Amsterdam, shows that out of 1,382 smokers, 556 started before the age of 20 and 826 smokers later. With 25 cigarettes per day, the “early starters” not only smoked more cigarettes (compared to 22 cigarettes for later smokers), but also performed worse in the addiction test (7.4 vs. 6.3 points). Only 46 percent of those who started smoking early were able to quit, compared to 56 percent of those who started smoking in their 20s. That means their chances of quitting smoking are reduced by about 30 percent.

In 2020, more than one in five people worldwide consumed tobacco, with serious health consequences: smokers are five times more likely to develop cardiovascular diseases before the age of 50 than non-smokers. It is estimated that almost nine out of ten adults who smoke daily started before the age of 18. dr Koji Hasegawa of the Kyoto Medical Center therefore concluded: "Increasing the leaf purchase age to 22 years or older may lead to a reduction in the number of nicotine dependent individuals at risk of adverse health effects."