The Rise and Fall of Vaping: Why do Adolescents Continue to use E-cigarettes?

Music City Center 

In 2024, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) determined that 1.63 million middle and high school students used electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) in the United States. However, while e-cigarettes are the most frequently used tobacco product, the CDC has stated that there has been a reduction in e-cigarette usage amongst adolescents. But has there actually been a reduction in youth e-cigarette use? To answer these questions, the NYTS datasets for 2018-2023 were used to track the number of youth e-cigarette users over time. Additionally, the self-reported smoking status of students who vaped marijuana was shown for 2018-2023. Furthermore, the reasons why individuals first used e-cigarettes were compared to the reasons why students currently used e-cigarettes. While the reasons for first use were always because a friend used them or curiosity, the top reasons for current use were poor mental health and to get high. Although use of e-cigarette products has seemed to be on the decline, more adolescents who vape marijuana have started to identify as nonsmokers. From 2018 to 2023, the percentage of marijuana vapers that identify as nonsmokers increased by almost 10%. These results indicate that e-cigarette use may not be decreasing and that further interventions need to bring more awareness to the health impacts of e-cigarettes and emphasize student mental well-being.

Vaping

adolescents

e-cigarette smoking

mental health 

Section on Statistics in Epidemiology