The percentage of high school students in the U.S. who use e-cigarettes has fallen to a decade-long low, according to a survey released Thursday, reversing an uptick in teen vaping as regulators crack down on popular products and some school districts install vaping detectors.
About a half-million fewer high school students reported using e-cigarettes in the last month.
Fewer than 8% of high school students (1.2 million) reported using e-cigarettes in the last month, down from 10% in 2023 and the lowest level in a decade, according to a survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration.
By comparison, about 35% of middle and high school students (9.4 million) reported using e-cigarettes in 2019, the highest rate ever recorded among U.S. students, according to the CDC.
E-cigarette use among middle and high school students dropped to 1.63 million in 2024 from 2.13 million last year, a decline of roughly 23%, the survey said.
The CDC attributed a decline in youth e-cigarette use to “comprehensive tobacco control strategies,” in addition to regulatory enforcement.
About 20.6% fewer middle and high school students reported using the most popular brand, Elf Bar, according to the survey, after the FDA sent warning letters to distributors to prohibit the sale of Elf Bar products to teens earlier this year.
The CDC and FDA release the National Youth Tobacco Survey annually to report tobacco use among children, surveying nearly 30,000 students from roughly 280 schools between Jan. 22 and May 22.
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90%. That’s the percentage of middle and high school students who reported e-cigarette use who indicated they preferred flavored products, including fruit or menthol flavors.
E-cigarette use among children in the U.S. has declined “considerably” since 2019, the CDC said, as the FDA issued bans on sweet-flavor tobacco products, which most students indicate a preference for. FDA officials targeted vape manufacturers after an increase in youth e-cigarette use in 2017, and the agency now requires all manufacturers to submit applications for approval of their products. After years of regulatory scrutiny, the FDA issued a ban on Juul’s popular products in the U.S. market, though that ban was rescinded in June. The FDA has also prohibited Reynolds American—which sells Newport and Camel cigarettes, among others—from selling some menthol-flavored and mixed-berry flavored products.
Some school districts have installed vaping detectors in school bathrooms following an increase in youth vaping in recent years. The Montgomery County Public Schools system in Maryland announced earlier this year they would crack down on vaping by spending $2 million in funds the system received in a settlement with e-cigarette maker Juul. Arizona’s largest school district, Mesa Public Schools, announced last month it would add vape sensors in every middle and high school bathroom. The Tyler Independent School District in Texas has also implemented vaping sensors in school bathrooms, according to the Associated Press. Schools in central Indiana said last year they received $27,000 in funding to install vape detectors.