Health minister wants to curb nicotine marketing aimed at young people

Iceland’s health minister, Alma D. Möller, wants to intervene in marketing of nicotine products that appeals to children and teenagers, mbl.is reported. Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, she cited pink cans with glitter and flavours such as strawberry and candy.

Möller said the government also planned to develop a youth policy and launch a national campaign focused on children’s and teenagers’ health and welfare. She said young people’s brains were not fully developed, making them less likely to make decisions in their own best interests, and argued that marketing therefore mattered greatly.

The parliamentary discussion was opened by Kolbrún Áslaugar Baldursdóttir, a member of parliament for the People’s Party, who raised the use of tobacco and nicotine products among young people. Participants shared the aim of protecting children from nicotine addiction but differed on how to achieve it.

Baldursdóttir said prevention and regulation needed to keep pace with changes in the nicotine market. She was concerned that colourful packaging and sweet or fruit flavours could appeal to children, and that nicotine pouches had become so discreet and easy to use that young people might see them as normal without understanding how difficult addiction could be to overcome.

Möller said Iceland’s prevention approach rested on clear laws and rules limiting tobacco use, as well as giving children access to organised leisure and sports activities that help them make informed choices. She described the discussion as a prelude to debate on a bill expected to be presented in parliament, but did not explain what changes to marketing or oversight it would propose.

Baldursdóttir asked what changes were planned to oversight of tobacco and nicotine retailers. Jón Pétur Zimsen, a member of parliament for the Independence Party, stressed prevention and enforcement of age limits on sales, and asked what measures the minister would propose to limit young people’s access and how their impact would be measured. Snorri Másson of the Centre Party also called for better oversight, saying current age restrictions were not being enforced.