Youth use of tobacco products in any form is unsafe.

Preventing tobacco product use among youth is critical to reducing tobacco use among the nation’s youth.

• Tobacco product use is started and established primarily during adolescence.
• Nearly 9 out of 10 adults who smoke cigarettes daily first try smoking by age 18.
• Flavorings in tobacco products can make them more appealing to youth.
  • In 2021, 80.2% of high school students and 74.6% of middle school students who used tobacco products in the past 30 days reported using a flavored tobacco product during that time.
  • In 2023, 90.3% of high school students and 87.1% of middle school students who used e-cigarettes in the past 30 days reported using a flavored e-cigarette during that time.

Electronic cigarettes (E-cigarettes)

• E-cigarettes have been the most commonly used tobacco product among youth since 2014.
• In 2023, about 1 out of every 22 middle school students (4.6%) reported that they had used electronic cigarettes in the past 30 days.
• In 2023, 1 of every 10 high school students (10.0%) reported that they had used electronic cigarettes in the past 30 days.

Cigarettes

• In 2023, about 1 of every 100 middle school students (1.1%) reported that they had smoked cigarettes in the past 30 days.
• In 2023, nearly 2 of every 100 high school students (1.9%) reported that they had smoked cigarettes in the past 30 days.

Resources:

1. Flavored Tobacco Product Use Among Middle and High School Students—United States, 2014U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2014 [accessed 2019 Feb 28].
2. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2012 [accessed 2019 Feb 28].
3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Flavored Tobacco Product Use Among Middle and High School Students—United States, 2014. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 2015;64(38):1066–70 [accessed 2019 Feb 28].
4. Wang TW, Gentzke AS, Neff LJ, et al. Characteristics of e-Cigarette Use Behaviors Among US Youth, 2020. JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(6):e2111336. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.11336
5. Gentzke AS, Wang TW, Cornelius M, Park-Lee E, Ren C, Sawdey MD, Cullen KA, Loretan C, Jamal A, Homa DM. Tobacco Product Use and Associated Factors Among Middle and High School Students – National Youth Tobacco Survey, United States, 2021. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 2022; 71(No. SS-5):1–29.
6. Birdsey J, Cornelius M, Jamal A, et al. Tobacco Product Use Among U.S. Middle and High School Students — National Youth Tobacco Survey, 2023. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2023; 72(44);1173–1182.