You probably knew the vaping epidemic was getting out of hand, but did you know it was this bad? According to data from the National Youth Tobacco Survey, around 6.2 million middle and high school students in the United States were users of some type of tobacco product in 2019. Breaking the numbers down further, the survey found that 1 in 3 high school students (4.7 million) and 1 in 8 middle school students (1.5 million) are currently using tobacco products.
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Unsurprisingly, e-cigarettes were found to be the most commonly used tobacco product. However, middle and high school students reported using a variety of other tobacco products, including cigars, cigarettes, hookahs, smokeless tobacco and pipe tobacco.
CDC Director Robert R. Redfield, M.D. said in a press release, “Our Nation’s youth are becoming increasingly exposed to nicotine, a drug that is highly addictive and can harm brain development. Youth use of any tobacco product, including e-cigarettes, is unsafe. It is incumbent upon public health and healthcare professionals to educate Americans about the risks resulting from this epidemic among our youth.”
To make matters worse, 1 in 3 middle and high school students reported using two or more tobacco products. The study also found that 57.5% said they had stopped using the products for one or more days in an effort to quit, but they were unsuccessful.
Many teens believe vaping is relatively harmless and better than smoking traditional combustible cigarettes, increasing the risk they start vaping, which in turn increases the risk they move to combustible cigarettes and develop other addictive behaviors. That’s why it’s imperative to talk to your children at a young age, about the dangers of e-cigarettes and all other tobacco products. When it comes to tobacco, there is no such thing as a “safe” option. The dangerous chemicals in tobacco products will wreak havoc on your health, and many of the health effects may not be reversible.