E-cigarette use skyrocketing among young Americans: Report

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Feb 13, 2019 06:00 am

WASHINGTON: The number of young Americans using e-cigarettes grew by 1.5 million last year, undermining years of progress in reducing youth smoking, health authorities said on Monday.

Some 3.6 million middle and high school students were current users of vaping products, up from 2.1 million the year before, while the number of cigarette smokers and consumption of other tobacco products remained stable, according to the report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

"The skyrocketing growth of young people's e-cigarette use over the past year threatens to erase progress made in reducing youth tobacco use," said CDC Director Robert Redfield.

Vaping began to take off among young Americans in the 2010s, and overtook cigarette smoking in 2014. The survey estimated that 4.9 per cent of college students vape. - AFP