Teenagers are far less likely to use e-cigarettes than they were just a few years ago, a new report says.
“In 2024, an estimated 1.63 million U.S. middle and high school students currently used e-cigarettes, a significant decline from 2.13 million in 2023,” the National Youth Tobacco Survey says. And, according to the American Lung Association, 5.4 million students in middle and high school smoked e-cigarettes in 2019 compared to the current 1.6 million, representing a 70% drop in five years.
Contributing to the drop, experts say, are penalties from the Department of Justice in conjunction with the Food and Drug Administration on retailers who illegally sold vaping products to kids.
New Jersey was the first state in the nation to ban the sale of all flavored e-cigarette products that were alleged to be targeted at teens.
Brian King, director of the FDA, quoted by The Associated Press, said, “This is a monumental public health win, but we can’t rest on our laurels. There’s clearly more work to do to further reduce youth use.”
