Take the Quiz

In 2022, about 1 in 10 or more than 2.5 million youth currently used e-cigarettes (past 30-day), including 14.1% (2.14 million) of high school students and 3.3% (380,000) of middle school students.

Among youth who currently used e-cigarettes, 84.9% used flavored e-cigarettes, i.e., with flavors other than tobacco, including 85.5% of high school and 81.5% of middle school students reporting use.

Research from ASPIRE and Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids found that across 30 major US cities, an average of 63% of public schools are located within 1,000 feet – about two city blocks – of a tobacco retailer. Additionally, there are nearly five times more tobacco retailers per square mile in the lowest-income neighborhoods than in the highest-income neighborhoods.

Companies are constantly innovating new products — including devices that resemble common school supply items — that students may use to have e-cigarette use go undetected.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not found any e-cigarette to be safe and effective in helping smokers quit.

As little as 5 mg of nicotine a day — about the amount of nicotine in one-quarter of an e-cigarette pod — is enough to establish a nicotine addiction.

The aerosol inhaled from vaping often contains a mixture of harmful chemicals like formaldehyde—which is known to cause cancer—and acrolein—which is used as a weed killer and can cause irreversible lung damage.

According to CDC data, disposable e-cigarettes were the most-used device type among young people in 2022. Meanwhile, disposables sold in the U.S. nearly tripled in nicotine strength, quintupled in e-liquid capacity, and dropped in price by nearly 70% between 2017 and 2022, tripling the purchasing power for price-sensitive youth.

According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, at least five disposable e-cigarettes are being thrown away every second in the United States, amounting to 150 million devices per year – which together contain enough lithium for about 6,000 Teslas.

The “cool factor” of vape brands is part of Big Tobacco’s intent to increase marketability of these products to youth.

According to the 2021 U.S. National Youth Tobacco Survey, the most common reason U.S. middle and high school students give for trying an e-cigarette is “a friend used them.” Unfortunately, what may start as social experimentation can become an addiction.

Research studies have shown e-cigarette users have higher odds of reporting a history of clinical diagnosis of depression compared with participants who never used e-cigarettes. In addition, increased frequency of e-cigarette use was associated with a greater rate of increase in depressive symptoms over time.