More than 2 million teens use e-cigarettes – a quarter of them daily

 

More than 2 million teens use e-cigarettes – a quarter of them daily

 

More than 2 million US teens say they use e-cigarettes, with a quarter of them saying they vape daily, a new national survey finds.   Even with many middle and high school students home because of the pandemic, they found ways to get hold of e-cigarettes and other vape devices and use them, the survey found.   The FDA and CDC survey middle school and high school students every year for the National Youth Tobacco Survey. Because of the pandemic, this year's results cannot be compared to previous years.   "Approximately 2.06 million youths were estimated to be current e-cigarette users in 2021. Use of tobacco products by youths in any form, including e-cigarettes, is unsafe. Most e-cigarettes contain nicotine, and nicotine exposure during adolescence can harm the developing brain," the FDA and CDC said in their report, published in the CDC's weekly MMWR report.   "Notably, when many students were in remote learning environments that might have affected their access to tobacco products, an estimated 11.3% (1.72 million) of high school students and an estimated 2.8% (320,000) of middle school students reported current e-cigarette use," the FDA and CDC said in a joint statement.   About 85% of the students said they used flavored vapes, especially fruit, candy, mint and menthol flavors. Anti-tobacco groups have been pressing the FDA to ban all flavored vape products.