U.S. Youth E-Cigarette Use Is the Lowest in 10 Years

The new data are from the 2024 National Youth Tobacco Survey results, an annual, school-based, self-administered survey of U.S. middle (grades 6–8) and high school (grades 9–12) students. The latest survey was conducted from January 22–May 22, 2024.

On the survey, 5.9% of middle and high school students reported current e-cigarette use in 2024, compared to 7.7% in 2023. The decline was largely among high school students, whose usage rates dropped from 10.0% in 2023 to 7.8% in 2024.

Of the students who currently use e-cigarettes, 38.4% reported frequent use and 26.3% reported daily use. The vast majority said they use flavored products (87.6%)—most commonly fruit (62.8%), candy (33.3%), and mint (25.1%).

The survey also asks students about the brands they are using, and the Elf Bar brand in particular saw a “substantive drop” from 2023 to 2024. “Elf Bar is not authorized by the FDA and has been the subject of focused compliance and enforcement actions by the agency since early 2023, including more than 1,000 warning letters and 240 civil money penalties to retailers and others in the supply chain,” the agency explained. “The FDA has also issued import alerts that include products under the Elf Bar brand, which places them on the ‘red list’ and allows the agency to detain products without conducting a full inspection at the time of entry.” The FDA’s actions under the full scope of its regulatory authority correlated to a reported drop in student usage from 56.7% in 2023 to 36.1% in 2024.

“The continued decline in e-cigarette use among our nation’s youth is a monumental public health win,” Brian King, PhD, MPH, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, said (https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/youth-e-cigarette-use-drops-lowest-level-decade). “This progress is a testament to the relentless efforts by the FDA, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and others, particularly over the past half decade. But we can’t rest on our laurels, as there’s still more work to do to further reduce youth e-cigarette use.”

Smoking—including e-cigarettes—is a leading cause of cancer (https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/campaign/tips/diseases/cancer.html), most notably lung cancer, but also bladder, cervical, esophageal, renal, liver, mouth and throat, pancreatic, and many other types of cancer. A total of 87% of adults who smoke daily tried their first cigarette (https://www.lung.org/quit-smoking/smoking-facts/tobacco-use-among-children) by age 18, and those who begin smoking at a young age are more likely to develop a severe dependence on nicotine. Preventing youth use of e-cigarettes is an important way to reduce the country’s long-term cancer burden. Learn more in ONS’s Tobacco, E-Cigarettes, and Vaping Learning Library (https://www.ons.org/learning-libraries/vaping), and find out how you can get involved in advocacy (https://voice.ons.org/advocacy/get-involved-in-onss-health-policy-advocacy) to spread this meaningful message.