Drop in Youth E Cigarette Use Is Great News, But FDA Must Crack Down on the Illegal, Nicotine Loaded Products that Continue to Addict Kids

Drop in Youth E-Cigarette Use Is Great News, But FDA Must Crack Down on the Illegal, Nicotine-Loaded Products that Continue to Addict Kids

Yolonda C. Richardson, President and CEO of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, issued the following statement:
September 05, 2024

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The results of the 2024 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) released today show that current (past 30-day) e-cigarette use among U.S. youth declined significantly in 2024, with e-cigarette use among high school students falling to 7.8% from 10% in 2023 and a high of 27.5% in 2019. The number of middle and high school students who reported current e-cigarette use fell from 2.13 million in 2023 to 1.63 million in 2024. However, a large percentage of youth e-cigarette users, including 42% of high school users and 27% of middle school users, reported frequent or daily use, which is a strong sign of addiction. In addition, 88% of youth users reported using flavored e-cigarettes.

It is encouraging news that youth e-cigarette use has fallen sharply, sparing many young people from the severe nicotine addiction and other health consequences that can result from e-cigarette use. These declines show that public health measures implemented to reduce youth use are working, including efforts at the federal, state and local levels to crack down on the sale of flavored e-cigarettes and public education campaigns by the FDA, the CDC, Truth Initiative and others. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids will continue to advocate for full implementation of these efforts.

Despite this progress, youth e-cigarette use remains a serious public health problem in the United States, and the industry remains relentless in finding new ways to addict kids. We cannot let down our guard when over 1.6 million kids still use e-cigarettes and 42% of high school users report frequent or daily use, a strong indication they are addicted to the high-nicotine products now on the market. Nicotine levels in e-cigarettes have skyrocketed in recent years, and the latest products contain as much nicotine as 20 packs of cigarettes or more, putting kids at risk of rapid and severe addiction. E-cigarette companies continue to find ways to appeal to youth with their highly addictive products and have even introduced products with built-in video games.

To fully end this crisis, the FDA, the Department of Justice and other relevant federal agencies must step up their enforcement efforts to clear the market of all illegal e-cigarettes. To date, the FDA has authorized the sale of only 34 e-cigarette products, but thousands of illegal, unauthorized products remain on the market. The FDA and other agencies must use all the enforcement tools at their disposal to clear the market of these illegal products. In addition, states and cities must ramp up their efforts to end the sale of flavored e-cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products.

Today's survey results also include data on youth use of nicotine pouch products like Zyn, which have seen a rapid increase in sales. While youth use of these products remains relatively low, the total number of youth using nicotine pouches has increased from 200,000 in 2021 to 480,000 in 2024. Nicotine pouches have the same characteristics that made e-cigarettes so appealing to young people, including kid-friendly flavors, heavy promotion on social media and being easy to hide. The FDA must continue to closely monitor these products and take action to prevent youth use.