Millions of US students are still vaping, despite annual declines

Oct. 7, 2022 — More than 2.5 million middle and high school students in the US use a new study by the CDC and the FDA.

The 2022 National Youth Tobacco Survey, conducted between January and May, showed that 14% of high school students and 3.3% of middle school students have used nicotine devices at least once in the past 30 days. 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.

The numbers fall short of 2019 data, which showed more than 25% of high school students were vaping. Despite this, anti-tobacco and anti-vaping groups have urged federal agencies to eliminate flavored vaping products, which are popular with teens.

In this year’s survey, 85% of teens who vaped reported using flavored e-cigarettes. The most commonly used flavors were fruit (69%); sweets, desserts or sweets (38%); mint (29%); and menthol (27%).

“It is unacceptable that over 2.5 million children are still using e-cigarettes when there is a clear solution to the problem – eliminate all flavored e-cigarettes,” Matthew Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said USA Today.

The FDA has banned tobacco flavored vaping products. However, consumers are increasingly turning to synthetic nicotine products, which are often disposable and sold in a variety of flavors, the newspaper reported.

In 2022, teens reported multiple different favorite brands, in contrast to 2019 when JUUL was the most recognized brand. Among those currently vaping, 14.5% said their usual brand is Puff Bar, followed by 12.5% ​​for Vuse, 5.5% for Hyde and 4% for SMOK. Additionally, nearly 22% said their usual brand is not among the 13 listed in the survey.

About 28% of teens reported using e-cigarettes daily, and 42% reported using them 20 days or more in the past 30 days.

Additionally, around 55% of teen vapers reported using disposable e-cigarettes. About 25% use pre-filled or refillable pods and 7% use tanks or mod systems. Another 23% said they didn’t know what type of device they were using.

“This study demonstrates that our nation’s youth continue to be enticed and addicted to a growing variety of e-cigarette brands that deliver flavored nicotine,” said Deirdre Lawrence Kittner, director of the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health in an opinion.

“Our work is far from over,” she said. “It’s critical that we work together to prevent youth from starting to use tobacco products – including e-cigarettes – and help all youth who use them to quit.”