Half of kids who try vaping become addicted, according to a major CDC analysis that shows millions of students are using e-cigarettes.
The annual youth tobacco survey found that nearly eight percent of middle and high school students — about 2.1 million children — were currently using e-cigarettes in 2023, down from just 2.55 million in 2022.
But now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 47 percent of kids who have ever tried an e-cigarette currently vape.
Vapes with appealing flavors, such as cotton candy and crème brulee, have hooked millions of young people. The latest data shows that about 90 percent of them reported using a fruit- or candy-flavored product.
Dr. Deirdre Lawrence Kittner, the CDC’s director of smoking and health, said the decline among high school students is “showing great progress” but noted that the agency’s work to eradicate e-cigarette use among young people is “a long way from is over’.
Vaping among high school students has dropped significantly over the past year, indicating some progress has been made in reducing use among teens
Vaping among high school students has skyrocketed in the past year
In 2023, more than 6.2 million school-age children tried tobacco products, such as vaping, cigarettes and smokeless tobacco.
Among those who have tried e-cigarettes, about 47 percent vape to this day and about 25 percent vape daily, about the same percentage as last year.
The rates at which high school students vape fell by about 29 percent from 2022, a promising sign tempered by the fact that high school students’ e-cigarette use rose by nearly 40 percent.
The CDC’s annual Youth Tobacco Survey is a nationally representative sample of tobacco use, and the trend over the past four years has shown that while the number of young people lighting up is at an all-time low, more and more young people are turning to electric vehicles.
Of the ten percent of students who reported currently using a tobacco product, nearly eight percent got their nicotine fix from e-cigarettes.
The 2023 survey results showed that vaping remains a major public health problem, despite a decline in use among those of high school age.
The decrease from 14.1 percent (2.14 million) to 10 percent is promising, but does not alter the fact that 1.5 million high school students are still addicted.
The results of the survey among high school students specifically show that a major problem is only getting worse.
Nearly seven percent of high school students currently use tobacco, up from 4.5 percent last year. And of that roughly seven percent total, 4.6 percent currently use e-cigarettes.
Dr. Kittner said, “The findings from this report underscore the threat that the commercial use of tobacco products poses to the health of our nation’s youth. It is imperative that we prevent young people from using tobacco and that we help those who use tobacco to quit.”
The federal government took a major step in 2019 to stem the tide of nicotine addiction among young people by raising the age for purchasing tobacco from 18 to 21.
The Food and Drug Administration, which has the authority to review companies’ applications to market their tobacco products, revealed in March that it had approved 99 percent of the nearly 26 million applications from vape makers to sell their products processed, and had approved only 23 of them. .
But anti-smoking advocates believe the government can and should do more to prevent young people from purchasing and using vapes.
Matthew Myers, the former president and CEO of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and a staunch critic of the administration’s approach, has told DailyMail.com in the past that the current youth vaping crisis is a product of “a combination of embarrassment and the The tobacco industry fights against regulation at every stage.’
The vast majority of youth vapers opted for fruit or candy flavored vaping products in 2023
The maximum permitted nicotine content in a vapor is set at 20 milligrams of nicotine per milliliter of liquid (two percent) in Europe, the United Kingdom and Canada. These devices last approximately 550 to 600 puffs. In the US it is quite easy to find a device or capsule that contains as much as 5 percent nicotine
One of the regulations that anti-smoking and vaping advocates have fought so hard for is a national standard limit on the amount of nicotine allowed in e-cigarettes.
The maximum permitted nicotine content in a vapor is set at 20 milligrams of nicotine per milliliter of liquid (two percent) in Europe, the United Kingdom and Canada. These devices last approximately 550 to 600 puffs.
But in the US, where you can easily find a vaporizer with as much as five percent nicotine, those concentrations have been steadily rising for some time. An Elf Bar BC5000 device, which contains five percent nicotine, can hold approximately 5,000 puffs.
It’s no surprise that children can become addicted to the heavy nicotine hit that vaping provides within days.
And flavors like cotton candy and strawberry lemonade in highly addictive vapors further exacerbate the problem.
Nearly nine in ten youth vapers in 2023 used the flavored products advocated for and many lawmakers have pushed for a ban, with mediocre results, as evidenced by the fact that children’s use of flavored products was up compared to 83 percent in 2020.
Despite government efforts to crack down on companies that advertise to children, the industry is still raking in the gold. A market research firm called Beyond Market Insights estimated the total value of the sector at more than $22 billion by 2022. This is expected to reach $169 billion by 2030.