More middle schoolers but fewer high school students are vaping in 2023, according to new federal data.
Ten percent of students in grades 9-12 responding to a national survey said they used e-cigarettes in the past 30 days, down from 14.1% in 2022, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration reported Thursday.
But over the same period, vaping increased at the middle school level, from 3.3% to 4.6% of students in grades 6-8.
The CDC attributed the decline in high school vaping to “multiple factors” such as “ongoing efforts at the national, state and local levels to implement tobacco control strategies,” including FDA restrictions on the marketing and sale of e-cigarettes to minors.
“The decline in e-cigarette use among high school students shows great progress, but our work is far from over,” said Deirdre Lawrence Kittner, director of the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health. “Findings from this report underscore the threat that commercial tobacco product use poses to the health of our nation’s youth.”
Vaping involves using battery-operated e-cigarettes to heat a liquid solution, creating an aerosol that users inhale into their lungs.
Most vapes are disposable and contain nicotine. All have chemicals doctors have warned can be more addictive than traditional cigarettes, besides increasing the risk of heart, lung and blood vessel diseases.
The CDC noted that one in four e-cigarette users responding to the 2023 youth survey said they vape daily, with nearly 9 in 10 using highly addictive flavored products. The most commonly reported brands were Elf Bar (56.7%), Esco Bars (21.6%), Vuse (20.7%), JUUL (16.5%) and Mr. Fog (13.6%).
“Youth e-cigarette use remains a critical public health concern, as approximately half of students who ever tried e-cigarettes reported currently using them, indicating that many youth who try e-cigarettes remain e-cigarette users,” the CDC said in an email.
The agency noted the increased risks of brain damage, disabilities and premature death associated with all tobacco products.
Although the use of any tobacco product fell from 16.2% to 12.6% of high schoolers, the survey found middle school students moving in the opposite direction.
The CDC noted that middle schoolers reported “statistically significant increases” in using any tobacco product (from 4.5% to 6.6%) and multiple tobacco products (from 1.5% to 2.5%) this year.
E-cigarettes have been “the most commonly used tobacco product among both middle and high school students” for 10 years, the CDC said.
Among all students surveyed in grades 6-12, 2.8 million (10%) said they currently use a tobacco product in 2023. Of those, 2.13 million (7.7%) students reported vaping.
Another 1.6% smoked cigarettes or cigars (1.6%), 1.5% used nicotine pouches, 1.2% used smokeless tobacco or other oral nicotine products, 1.1% smoked hookah, 1% used heated tobacco products and 0.5% indulged in pipe tobacco.
While the CDC cited advertising and misinformation for the ongoing popularity of vaping among young people, some e-cigarette lobbyists welcomed the report.
“The data from the CDC demonstrates that the exaggerated panic about teen vaping needs to stop,” said Michael Landl, director of the World Vapers’ Alliance, which has opposed bans on flavored e-cigarettes in several countries.
• Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@washingtontimes.com.