The use of e-cigarettes by middle and high school students in the US has fallen reaching the lowest level in a decade. In 2019, more than 5 million students were using e-cigarettes. In 2024, only 1.6 million students reported vaping, about 6% of the total student population. The number of students using e-cigarettes dropped by nearly 25% compared to last year.
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At the peak in 2019, over 27% of high school students reported using e-cigarettes, which was a public health concern. Now that number has dropped to less than 8%.
The decline is attributed to various factors including public health campaigns, regulatory measures and increasing awareness about the health risks associated with e-cigarette use.
The 2024 National Youth Tobacco Survey revealed a decline in e-cigarette use among middle and high school students. In 2023, 7.7% of students reported using e-cigarettes, but by 2024, this figure had dropped to 5.9%.
This reduction translates to approximately 1.63 million students in 2024 down from 2.13 million in 2023. The overall decline is more pronounced in high school students, where usage fell from 10.0% in 2023 to 7.8% in 2024.
The usage among middle school students showed less change, remaining at a relatively low rate of 3.5%.
Nicotine pouch use did not show changes between 2023 and 2024. In 2024, 1.8% of middle and high school students reported using nicotine pouches compared to 1.5% in 2023. This accounts for roughly 480,000 students using nicotine pouches with high school students (2.4%) using them more frequently than middle school students (1.0%).
Among current e-cigarette users, 38.4% reported frequent use and 26.3% used e-cigarettes daily. Disposables remain the most common type of e-cigarette device with 55.6% of users preferring them followed by prefilled pods or cartridges (15.6%) and mod systems (7.0%).
21.8% of students reported being unsure about the type of device they used. Elf Bar was the most popular brand among e-cigarette users (36.1%) followed by Breeze (19.9%), Mr. Fog (15.8%), Vuse (13.7%) and JUUL (12.6%).
Flavored products are still used with 87.6% of users choosing them. The most popular flavors were fruit (62.8%), candy (33.3%) and mint (25.1%).
Among current nicotine pouch users, 29.3% reported frequent use and 22.4% used the product daily. ZYN was the dominant brand in the nicotine pouch market with 68.7% of users preferring it, followed by on! (14.2%), Rogue (13.6%), Velo (10.7%) and Juice Head ZTN (9.8%).
Most users (85.6%) reported using flavored nicotine pouches with mint being the most popular flavor (53.3%), followed by fruit (22.4%) and menthol (19.3%).
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The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has taken steps to curb e-cigarette use among youth. In collaboration with the Department of Justice, the FDA has issued over 1,000 warning letters and 240 civil penalties to retailers selling products illegally to minors targeting brands like Elf Bar.
Additionally, the FDA has placed Elf Bar products on the red list enabling the federal government to detain these products at US borders without full inspection.
Nicotine pouches, which are small, dissolvable packets placed between the lip and gum, have become increasingly popular since 2016.
While the current rate of use among youth is relatively low, public health experts are closely monitoring the trend due to the addictive nature of nicotine. Nicotine pouches can lead to addiction and harm the developing brains of adolescents.
More than 1 in 4 teens who vape report daily use, while more than 1 in 5 teens using nicotine pouches also report daily use. This high frequency is a strong indicator of nicotine addiction.
The survey revealed that most students who use e-cigarettes or nicotine pouches prefer flavored products. Fruit flavors are the most popular for e-cigarettes, while mint flavors dominate among nicotine pouches.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are committed to reducing youth tobacco use. The FDA has authorized the sale of 23 specific tobacco-flavored e-cigarette products, but unauthorized and illegal products continue to flood the market especially those targeting minors.
Enforcement actions have been intensified against unauthorized brands like Elf Bar, which remains the most commonly used e-cigarette brand among youth. However its use has declined from 57% in 2023 to 36% in 2024.
The FDA and the Department of Justice formed a task force in 2023 to crack down on distributors and online retailers. Millions of dollars worth of unauthorized e-cigarettes have been seized and several warning letters have been issued to companies distributing these products.
Popular brands like Elf Bar have been a major target of these enforcement actions and their decline in usage among teens is seen as a victory for public health.
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