E-cigarette use among middle and high schoolers dropped significantly since last year, with 1.8 million fewer teens vaping, a federal report released Wednesday shows.
Why it matters: The survey, conducted between mid-January and mid-March, highlights the effects of last year’s outbreak of vaping-related illnesses and deaths.
- In 2019, reports were confirmed of more than 2,600 hospital cases and nearly 60 deaths most likely associated with illicit THC-infused vaping products.
Yes, but: There is still a significant appeal for teens to smoke flavored tobacco products, which are now illegal to purchase in cartridge form.
- Small vaping devices like those from Juul Labs are also still popular.
- 26.5% of high schoolers used disposable e-cigarettes in 2020 (up from 2.4% in 2019) and 15.2% middle schoolers (up from 3% in 2019).
By the numbers: About 20% of high school students and 5% of middle school students said they recently used e-cigarettes and other vaping products, a large decrease from last year which revealed 28% of high school students and 11% of middle school students used those products.
The big picture: The Food and Drug Administration attempted to curb youth vaping this year by barring flavored tobacco products in small vaping devices that have a youth following.
- Federal law has since increased the age to purchase tobacco products and e-cigarettes to 21 and older.
