In 2014, adolescents’ e-cigarette use increased rapidly, with around 13.4% of high schoolers and 3.9% of middle school students reporting past-30-day use. E-cigarettes contain a multitude of chemicals, one being nicotine, an addictive stimulant found in tobacco plants. The reason behind why nicotine is so addictive is because it triggers the brain to release dopamine, a neurotransmitter that is responsible for a person to feel happy. This feeling tends to go away after some time, causing an individual to crave more nicotine products to get the same level of satisfaction, leading to addiction. This constant use of nicotine can negatively affect a person’s health, causing cancer, heart disease, and other chronic illnesses. Nicotine is especially dangerous for teenagers as it is harmful to their developing brains and can affect their ability to learn. In addition, nicotine addiction among teenagers is far more dangerous than it is among adults because it is less likely for teenagers to quit once they start using nicotine products. Fortunately, e-cigarette and nicotine usage dropped to a 10-year low among adolescents.
In the past month, just under six percent of middle and high school students reported vaping, according to a survey conducted by the National Youth Tobacco Survey. This decline was mainly caused by high school students, with a decrease from 2.13 million (7.7%) youth in 2023 to 1.63 million (5.9%) youth in 2024.
“The continued decline in e-cigarette use among our nation’s youth is a monumental public health win,” said Brian King, Ph.D., M.P.H., director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products.
Public health experts claim that e-cigarette usage declined among adolescents due to several factors, such as city and state tobacco bans and campaigns regarding the dangers of vaping. There are worldwide campaigns that are targeted around teenage e-cigarette use, wanting to ban disposable vapes and limit access to adolescents to prevent addiction. The U.S. government has also taken this issue into consideration, as Congress pressured the FDA to increase enforcement, especially after illegal imports of certain e-cigarette flavors. As a result, the FDA emphasized how certain brands, specifically Elf Bar, a popular vape company among teenagers, are not authorized to sell their vapes. The FDA also released a campaign entitled “The Real Cost,” highlighting the dangers of e-cigarette use among youth and the difficulties of quitting.
In terms of regulation, the FDA implemented new rules in 2018, such as stronger age verification for online e-cigarette sales and the removal of e-cigarette products that are marketed to adolescents. In addition, physicians have worked to educate their patients about e-cigarettes and discouraged their use. Dr. Sharon Levy, a pediatrician and chief of the division of addiction medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital, said that there was no need for new types of flavored vapes that advertised 15,000 puffs and contained as much nicotine as 20 packs of cigarettes.
“It would be nice,” Levy said, “to actually get ahead of these things.”
