United States: New National Survey Confirms High Vaping Consumption Among High School Students

The Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey published December 15 in the journal JAMA Pediatrics[1] shows that the use of vaping products among high school students remained high in 2020 with 22% of students using e-cigarettes in the last 30 days. They were 22.5% in 2019.

These data are consistent with the results of National Tobacco Survey (National Youth Tobacco Survey –NYTS- which includes tobacco and vaping products) among young people published in September 2020. The latter showed that approximately 20% of high school students use e-cigarettes. Nearly 40% of these e-cigarette users reported frequent or daily use, an indicator of addiction. The 2020 NYTS also revealed that 83% of consumers opted for flavored products. The decline of the giant JUUL in 2020 and the withdrawal of its mint flavors, led to a shift in consumption towards disposable e-cigarettes and their menthol flavors, which are still available on the market.

New call to ban sale of flavored products

For some anti-smoking organizations, including TruthInitiative[2] And Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, these findings confirm the importance of banning the sale of flavored products nationwide. They call on the new administration linked to the upcoming inauguration of new President Joe Biden and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to strengthen the federal policy on vaping products implemented in early 2020. This policy suffers from a major exception relating to disposable e-cigarettes.[3] : The ban only applies to fruity/sweet flavors for closed-system pre-filled e-cigarettes (such as Juul). This means that disposable and open-system rechargeable devices still offer a variety of flavors[4].

High school students better understand the risks associated with vaping

In recent years, TruthInitiative has undertaken numerous campaigns[5]-[6] with several public health partners[7] to prevent young people from being introduced to tobacco and vaping products and to remind them of the risks associated with the use of these products. According to the results of the MTF survey, the perception of risks associated with occasional or regular use of vaping products containing nicotine has increased among high school students since 2019. For 27% of high school students, occasional use is not without risks (21% in 2019), and 49% think that vaping regularly is dangerous (39% in 2019).

Keywords: United States, vaping, youth, flavors

©Tobacco Free Generation

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[1] Miech R, Leventhal A, Johnston L, O'Malley PM, Patrick ME, Barrington-Trimis J. Trends in Use and Perceptions of Nicotine Vaping Among US Youth From 2017 to 2020. JAMA Pediatr. Published online December 15, 2020. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2020.5667[2] Press release, New Report Shows Youth E-Cigarette Use Remains at Epidemic Levels and Harm Perceptions of Vaping Significantly Rise Among Teens, TruthInitiative, December 15, 2020, accessed December 17, 2020[3] Generation Without Tobacco, United States: Menthol and disposable e-cigarettes continue to drive youth vaping epidemic, September 28, 2020, accessed December 17, 2020[4] FDA finalizes enforcement policy on unauthorized flavored cartridge-based e-cigarettes that appeal to children, including fruit and mint, US Food and Drug Administration, January 2, 2020, accessed December 17, 2020[5] Vaping vs. Immune Systems with Dr. Rutland, Truth Initiative[6] This is Quitting, Truth Initiative[7] Truth Initiative and Kaiser Permanente, in collaboration with the American Heart Association, join forces with EVERFI to give America's youth the facts about vaping, Truth Initiative, December 10, 2020, accessed December 17, 2020National Committee Against Smoking |