More than 2.5 million teens used e-cigarettes in 2022, study shows

WASHINGTON — More than 2.5 million middle and high school students in the U.S. reported using e-cigarettes in 2022, according to a new study by the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Almost 85% of teenagers who use e-cigarettes have eaten flavored products ranging from fruit, candy and other sweets, peppermint and menthol. More than half rely on disposable e-cigarettes, followed by 25% with refillable cartridges.

The findings, published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, are based on data from the 2022 National Youth Tobacco Smoking Survey, a survey of middle and high school students conducted between January 18 and May 31.

“Our work is far from over,” said Deirdre Lawrence Kittner, director of the CDC’s Office on Tobacco Control and Health. “It is vital that we work together to prevent young people from starting to use any tobacco product, including e-cigarettes, and to help all young people who use them to quit.”

The independent survey also ranked the brands most used by teenagers and according to their frequency of use. Among those who currently use e-cigarettes, 14.5% use Puff Bar, 12.5% ​​use Vuse, 5.5% use Hyde, 4% use SMOK, and 21.8% use brands not listed in the survey.

More than 1 in 4 teens used e-cigarettes daily and more than 4 in 10 used them 20 or more of the past 30 days since taking the survey.

Last year surveyabout 11% said they had recently used an electronic device.

But experts caution that changes to the survey make it difficult to compare the two: This year, a much higher percentage of participants took the survey in schools, and vaping tends to be more commonly reported in schools than in homes.

“Adolescent e-cigarette use in the United States remains at alarming levels and poses a serious health risk to our nation’s youth,” Brian King, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, said in a statement.

In September, e-cigarette maker Juul Labs, long blamed for sparking the nation’s teen vaping surge, agreed to pay nearly $440 million to settle a multi-state investigation into its vape products.

The investigation found that Juul marketed its e-cigarettes to underage teenagers through parties, product giveaways, advertisements and social media posts using young models, the statement said.

In this year’s survey, about one-fifth of teen vapers had recently used a Juul, even though it’s no longer a favorite brand. That’s a big shift from 2019, when more than half of teens named Juul as their go-to brand.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.