Current e-cigarette use among middle and high school students tripled from 2013 to 2014…
…and now surpasses current use of every other tobacco product, including conventional cigarettes. Findings from the National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS), published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products, estimate that 2.4 million youths in the U.S. are using e-cigarettes. The NYTS is a school-based, self-administered questionnaire given annually to middle and high-school students in both public and private schools. In 2014, it included 22,000 students and is a nationally representative survey.
Current e-cigarette use among middle and high school students tripled from 2013 to 2014
The good news is that most young people are NOT using tobacco products!
Tobacco companies spend a lot of money to make people think that smoking is popular while, in fact, about 80 percent of teens do not smoke. However, the increase in popularity of e-cigarette and hookah use offsets the recent decline in the use of more traditional products such as cigarettes and cigars. There was no decline in overall tobacco use between 2011 and 2014.
The good news is that most young people are NOT using tobacco products!
In 2014, the products most commonly used by high school students were e-cigarettes (13.4 percent), hookah (9.4 percent), cigarettes (9.2 percent), cigars (8.2 percent), smokeless tobacco (5.5 percent), snus (1.9 percent) and pipes (1.5 percent). Use of multiple tobacco products is common; nearly half of all middle and high school students who were current tobacco users used two or more types of tobacco products. The products most commonly used by middle school students, in order of use, were e-cigarettes (3.9 percent), followed by hookah, cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco, and pipes.
Think e-cigarettes are a “healthier” alternative to cigarettes?
E-cigarettes come in a variety of flavors, possibly making them appealing to young children, but they may also contain toxic chemicals. The American Association of Poison Control Centers reports an increase in calls related to exposures to e-cigarette devices and liquid nicotine. In 2011, there were 271 e-cigarette device/liquid nicotine exposures reported to poison control centers. Preliminary findings for 2014 indicate 3,783 reports of exposures. More than half of these reported exposures occurred in children under the age of six.
“We want parents to know that nicotine is dangerous for kids at any age, whether it’s an e-cigarette, hookah, cigarette or cigar,” said CDC Director, Dr. Tom Frieden. “Adolescence is a critical time for brain development. Nicotine exposure at a young age may cause lasting harm to brain development, promote addiction, and lead to sustained tobacco use.”
The 2012 Surgeon General’s Report found that about 90 percent of all smokers first tried cigarettes as teens; and that about three of every four teen smokers continue into adulthood.
Want to quit?
Tobacco use not only affects your health now, but it also affects the direction of your life and health in the future. Want to quit, but don’t know how? Try Smokefree Teen, 800-QUIT-NOW (800-784-8669), or SmokingStopsHere.com.