According to a recent CDC and FDA report, more than 2.5 million middle school and high school kids in the U.S. use e-cigarettes.
In the past 30 days, 14.5% of high school students and 3.3% of middle school students used nicotine devices, according to the 2022 National Youth Tobacco Survey, which was conducted between January and May. A year ago, the survey showed that 11.3% of high school students and 2.8% of middle school students reported vaping in the past month.
Data from 2019 indicated that more than 25% of high school students vaped, so the numbers are still below that. Even still, anti-tobacco and anti-vaping groups have urged federal regulators to eliminate flavoured vaping products that are popular among teens.
In the poll this year, 85% of kids who vaped admitted to using flavor-infused e-cigarettes. Fruit (69%), candy, desserts, or sweets (38%), mint (29%), and menthol (27%) were the most popular flavours.
According to Matthew Myers, head of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Youngsters, “it is unacceptable that over 2.5 million kids still use e-cigarettes when there is a straightforward solution to the problem — remove all flavoured e-cigarettes.”
The FDA has outlawed tobacco-derived flavours for vaping goods. However, the publication said that consumers are increasingly turning to disposable synthetic nicotine products that come in a range of tastes.
In contrast to 2019, when JUUL was the most well-known brand, youths in 2022 claimed a variety of favourite brands. 14.5% of those who vape now cited Puff Bar as their preferred brand, followed by 12.5% for Vuse, 5.5% for Hyde, and 4% for SMOK. In addition, roughly 22% of respondents claimed their preferred brand wasn’t one of the 13 mentioned in the poll.
About 28% of young people claimed to use e-cigarettes every day, and 42% claimed to have used them 20 or more times over the course of the previous 30 days.
Furthermore, about 55% of young people who vape claimed to use disposable e-cigarettes. In comparison, 7% utilise tanks or mod systems, and about 25% use prefilled or refillable pods. 23% of respondents said they were unsure about the type of gadget they were using.
Deirdre Lawrence Kittner, director of the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, stated in a statement that the study “shows that our nation’s children continue to be attracted to and hooked by an expanding array of e-cigarette brands delivering flavoured nicotine.”
We still have a lot of work to do, she remarked. We must all work together to stop young people from starting to use any type of tobacco product, including e-cigarettes, and to assist those who are already using them in quitting.
