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Youth

E-Cigarette Use Among Teenagers Triples, Sparks Concerns About Nicotine Addiction

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

E-cigarette use among teenagers has tripled in just one year, with current e-cigarette use increasing from 4.5 percent in 2013 to 13.4 percent in 2014 among high school students and from 1.1 percent to 3.9 percent among middle school students, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The report, which follows last year's Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey, found that 8.7 percent of eighth graders, 16.2 percent of 10th graders, and 17.1 percent of 12th graders used e-cigarettes at least once in the past month. The high rate of e-cigarette use has raised concerns among health officials, who warn that nicotine addiction can have lasting adverse consequences for brain development.

Key Takeaways:

  • E-cigarette use among teenagers tripled from 2013 to 2014, with current e-cigarette use increasing from 4.5 percent to 13.4 percent among high school students and from 1.1 percent to 3.9 percent among middle school students.
  • The National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) found that 8.7 percent of eighth graders, 16.2 percent of 10th graders, and 17.1 percent of 12th graders used e-cigarettes at least once in the past month.
  • Hookah smoking doubled for both middle and high school students, with current hookah use increasing from 5.2 percent to 9.4 percent for high school students and from 1.1 percent to 3.5 percent for middle school students.
  • Conventional cigarette use declined, but the decline was offset by the increases in e-cigarette and hookah use.
  • One in four high school students and one in 13 middle school students used one or more tobacco products in the last 30 days in 2014.
  • The FDA's proposed rule would ban the sale of e-cigarettes to people under 18 and bring e-cigarettes, hookahs, and cigars under the same authority as cigarettes, cigarette tobacco, roll-your-own tobacco, and smokeless tobacco.
  • Prevention strategies should address all tobacco products and not just cigarettes, the report concluded.

Statistics:

  • 4.5% of high school students used e-cigarettes in 2013
  • 13.4% of high school students used e-cigarettes in 2014
  • 1.1% of middle school students used e-cigarettes in 2013
  • 3.9% of middle school students used e-cigarettes in 2014
  • 8.7% of eighth graders used e-cigarettes at least once in the past month
  • 16.2% of 10th graders used e-cigarettes at least once in the past month
  • 17.1% of 12th graders used e-cigarettes at least once in the past month
  • 5.2% of high school students used hookahs in 2013
  • 9.4% of high school students used hookahs in 2014
  • 1.1% of middle school students used hookahs in 2013
  • 3.5% of middle school students used hookahs in 2014
  • 24.6% of high school students used any tobacco product at least once a month in 2014
  • 7.7% of middle school students used any tobacco product at least once a month in 2014

Sources:

  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, April 17 issue
  • Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey, December 22, 2014
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS)
  • Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan
  • American Academy of Pediatrics
  • Tom Frieden, M.D., Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  • Nora D. Volkow, M.D., Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse
  • Mitch Zeller, J.D., Director, FDA's Center for Tobacco Products

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