No Smoking Day 2025, and times are changing, just like Big Tobacco products

No Smoking Day 2025 – or should it be No Nicotine/Tobacco Day?

Ever since Fast Forward was established in 1987, our focus has been around young people and risk taking behaviours. Alongside alcohol and substances, tobacco use has consistently been a huge part of our work.

Inspired by Ash Scotland’s recent No Smoking Day on the 12^th of March we’re looking at how the tobacco landscape has changed and continues to do so. Fast Forward tackle these challenges head on by building upon our foundations, with young people front and centre, making sure we’re in the best position to tackle the upcoming challenges nicotine and tobacco present.

With the first No Smoking Day taking place in 1984, just before Fast Forward set up shop in 1987, when Depeche Mode and Whitney ruled the charts and Knight Rider owned the telly, tobacco use mainly centred around cigarettes.  Since then we’ve seen Big Tobacco undertake a huge evolution and a surge in ruthless marketing activity to find new ways of tempting young people into the lifetime cycle of using their products

While our focus was firmly with holding conversations, hosting groups sessions and raising awareness of the dangers of smoking, we noticed a shift around 2019 with teachers, parents and youth workers noticing chatter around ‘vapes’ as well as cigarettes. With our network of young people and industry contacts we gathered information, familiarised ourselves with terminology and evolved our sessions to include discussion around vaping.

We were ready to hit the ground running, and delivered our first session on the 22^nd of March 2020. The world pretty much shut up shop the next day! Undeterred, we took our sessions online, fully aware a small blip like a global pandemic was unlikely to stop young people taking part in risk taking behaviours – they still needed our help.

When you consider the explosion in vape use over the last few years, we were right. According to research published by the NHS, Statistics show that one quarter of 11 to 15-year-olds have tried vaping. And with the full extent of health issues still unknown, our work is as crucial as ever. We are seeing addicted young adults struggling to find a way out of vaping, but expressing regret in ever getting started. We harness their experience and words of wisdom to create resources which are then shared with children and younger age groups, aiming to help stop the cycle.

We are now hearing more and more about snus, or nicotine pouches. And this time it’s started with the young people we work with. Scarily health professionals, teachers, parents and youth workers appear to be less knowledgeable around this next generation of product.

In a world where anonymous deliveries are placed through WhatsApp and one where Big Tobacco exploit loopholes (we’re seeing free pouch samples given away to young people at train stations and festivals among others) the challenges continue. Where peer pressure is still an influence, we now also tackle the relentless bombardment of companies using influencers and social media to create a huge reach.

As new products, trends and sales tactics emerge, our dedicated team continue to build their skills, knowledge and experience through good conversations with trusted networks, research, partnerships and, of course, listening to the young people we work with.

By asking the right questions, in the right way, at the right time, meaningful conversations with young people continue to influence and guide our work. In a complicated world, their enthusiasm to participate and give back to younger children continues to inspire us all.

If you’d like to talk to us about engaging with the young people you work with around risk taking behaviours, also including substance abuse and alcohol, we’d love to hear from you. Drop us a line to admin@fastforward.org.uk.