Vaping Among High School Students Declines but Level of Addiction and Presence of New Products Is Alarming

In response to the release of the 2024 National Youth Tobacco Survey e-cigarette and nicotine pouch data from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, American Lung Association President and CEO Harold Wimmer released the following statement:  

“The American Lung Association is encouraged to see use of e-cigarettes among middle and high school students decline from the epidemic highs of 5.4 million youth to 1.6 million regular users. Youth tobacco use, including vaping, continues to be a serious public health concern and we cannot afford to become complacent. No level of youth use of any tobacco products is safe, nor acceptable. It is deeply troubling that of the youth who vape, more than a quarter (26.3%) do so daily, which shows a high addiction rate. 

“Flavors in tobacco products have one purpose: to attract kids. 87.6% of youth who vape report using flavored products, including mint and menthol. Now, we are also closely watching the increasing popularity of nicotine pouch products like Zyn. Many nicotine pouch products, including Zyn, have not received authorization from the FDA to be sold in the U.S. This means they are on the market illegally. These products contain a significant amount of nicotine, are extremely addictive and come in kid-friendly flavors like citrus, cool mint and cinnamon. While the National Youth Tobacco Survey didn’t show a statistically significant increase in high school and middle school use of nicotine pouches, the Lung Association urges swift action by the FDA to remove illegal products from the marketplace, so these don’t become the next tobacco product to cause an epidemic. Another study published in JAMA has shown that adult use of these products is extremely low; use of these products is almost entirely by youth. 

“The American Lung Association calls on the FDA to complete its review of all e-cigarette and nicotine pouch marketing applications as soon as possible and deny applications for all flavored tobacco products. We continue to urge Congress to pass legislation to increase FDA’s tobacco user fees so it can devote more resources to enforcement to protect children from these illegal products. 

“We all must work together to prevent youth from starting to use tobacco and ensure that there are resources available to help teens quit all tobacco products for good. The American Lung Association remains committed to a tobacco-free future where no child is addicted to tobacco products. We are proud of our leadership in urging Congress to increase the minimum age of sale for tobacco products to 21 and to ensure FDA has authority over all tobacco products, including those made with synthetic nicotine. We will continue our work in reducing tobacco use through education, advocacy and research.”

The Lung Association has resources to prevent tobacco use and help youth quit, specifically designed for schools, parents and teens, including TalkAboutVaping, our Vape-Free Schools Initiative, Not On Tobacco, and more resources available online.