US High Schoolers’ E-Cigarette Use Plummets With FDA Crackdown
US teenagers’ e-cigarette use dropped by two-thirds over the past five years as health regulators cracked down on illegal sales and distribution of the addictive products.
About 1.6 million school children currently use the devices, just a third of the peak level in 2019, when the number was about 5 million, according to the annual National Youth Tobacco Survey of middle and high school students. Most of the decrease was among high school students, according to the US Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which released the findings Thursday.
Earlier this year, the FDA announced the creation of an interagency task force partnering with law enforcement to tackle issues including illegal sales of e-cigarettes to American youth. The agency has issued more than 1,100 warning letters to manufacturers, importers, distributors and retailers for illegally selling or distributing unauthorized new tobacco products.
The survey relies on self-reporting by respondents. About 88% said they use flavored products like fruit, candy and mint. Shenzhen iMiracle Technology’s Elf Bar, Shenzhen Innokin Technology Co.’s Breeze, British American Tobacco Plc’s Vuse and JUUL Labs Inc.’s JUUL were among the most popular brands.
Nearly half a million middle and high school students used nicotine pouches in 2024, about the same number as a year earlier, and more than one in five used them daily, the survey found. The products, including the Zyn brand owned by Philip Morris International Inc. through subsidiary Swedish Match, come in various flavors and have quickly gained popularity in the US.
“Our guard is up,” said Brian King, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, on a call with reporters. “We’re closely monitoring the evolving tobacco product landscapes for threats to public health, particularly when it comes to kids.”
— With assistance from Nyah Phengsitthy