Looking Back: 2020 NYTS Showed Decline in Youth Use

AS recently reported, data from the 2020 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) found that 1.8 million fewer U.S. youth are currently using e-cigarettes compared to last year. The NYTS, conducted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), data shows an alarming increase in the number of youth who use disposable e-cigarettes.

Compared to 2019, the number of youth using e-cigarettes is down 1.8 million. However, the number of youth using disposable e-cigarettes has risen: 26.5 percent of high school users are using disposables, up from 2.4 percent in 2019, and 15.2 percent of middle school users are using disposables, up from 3 percent last year.

The FDA did not include disposable products when it announced its flavor ban for closed-pod systems in February of this year. The 2020 NYTS showed that more than 8 out of 10 youth e-cigarette users report use of flavored products and the majority of those used a disposbale product.

The study states that almost 40 percent of high school users are using an e-cigarette on 20 or more days out of the month and almost a quarter of them use e-cigarettes every day.

Last week, the FDA issued warning letters notifying three companies who sell or distribute unauthorized ENDS products to remove those products from the market. The regulatory agency issued a warning letter to XL Vape LLC (doing business as Stig Inc.), warning the company to remove their disposable e-cigarettes from the market because they do not have the required premarket authorization.

The additional warning letters were issued to Flavour Warehouse LTD (doing business as Vampire Vape) and Pretty Women UK LTD (T/A Coil2oil and Mad Kingdom Liquids) for illegally marketing unauthorized menthol-flavored e-liquids. “The labeling and/or advertising of these products also features cartoon images, such as vampires and kings, that are commonly marketed and/or appeal to youth,” according to the FDA.