According to studies by the National Institute for Health Development (TAI), the use of traditional cigarettes has decreased over the past decade. However, the popularity of e-cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products has grown, particularly among young people aged 24 and under.

"In the general population, around 4.4 percent use e-cigarettes. However, when we look specifically at the 16- to 24-year-old age group, the usage rate is about 11 to 12 percent. Among school students, unfortunately, one-third have tried e-cigarettes. What is particularly concerning is the health behavior of girls, as they are increasingly using both e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches more frequently," said Anneli Sammel, head of the TAI department of drugs and addictions.

Citing the protection of young people's health as one of the reasons, Belgium will become the first European Union country next year to completely ban the sale of disposable e-cigarettes.

In Estonia, there is already a ban on the sale of flavored e-cigarette liquids, and cross-border and domestic remote sales of tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, are also prohibited. According to TAI, despite the existing restrictions, e-cigarettes remain highly accessible to children and young people.

"A study on test purchases of nicotine products showed that about 40 percent of sales personnel do not ask young people for ID to verify their age. We need stronger oversight, and if additional resources for this are unavailable, we must consider strengthening our regulations so that the supply on the market is not overly abundant," Sammel added.

In recent years, the idea of banning the sale of disposable e-cigarettes has been discussed in Estonia, said Aive Telling, head of environmental health policy at the Ministry of Social Affairs.

"For now, our approach has not been to impose an outright ban on the product. Instead, we have supported EU-wide regulation at the government level. Banning these products individually in different countries through varying regulations is complicated. We prefer a unified European Union regulation," she explained.

According to Telling, discussions on banning disposable e-cigarettes across the EU are currently in the preparatory stages.

"Member states are being consulted on their views regarding potential solutions to the problem, as the severity and nature of the issues vary by country. The products being used also differ between countries. Our position remains that a single member state cannot achieve the desired effect through such a ban, and we believe this should be addressed through EU-wide regulation," Telling said.

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