[Where do Parisian teenagers buy their cigarettes?]

INTRODUCTION: The objective of this work was to assess the background of the implementation of the ban of tobacco sales to minors before the change of French law in 2016.

METHODS: The analysis focused on two questions to teenagers on buying tobacco, added to the four cross-sectional annual surveys of the association "Paris Sans Tabac" from 2012 to 2015.

RESULTS: In total, 7025 schoolchildren (12-15 years old), 3299 high school students (16-17 years old) and 3243 adult students (18-20 years old) responded. The proportion of daily smokers was respectively 3.2%, 19.0% and 22.0%. The overall smoking rate (daily+occasional) was 13.8%, 37.9% and 39.5% respectively. Among daily smokers, 90.7% of respondents had bought their tobacco from tobacconist. This source was used by 74.6% of daily smokers aged 12-15 years, 92.0% of the 16-17 years old and 94.0% of the18-19 years old teenagers. Drinking more than four glasses of alcohol on the same day or having used cannabis in the preceding month was associated with a greater chance of buying tobacco at the tobacconist. Starting to buy tobacco from a tobacconist below the age of 12 was associated with a high dependence score (HSI=2.4±1.9) compared to those who bought after 15 years (HSI=0.5±0.7) (P<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: Before 2016, Parisian teenagers who smoked daily mostly bought their cigarettes from a tobacconist.