The latest tally of federal data finds that vaping rates fell from 10 percent of high school students in 2023 to 7.8 percent this year, “reaching the lowest level ever measured,” reported a team of researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to newly released data from the 2024 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS), current tobacco product use among U.S. middle and high school students has dropped to the lowest recorded level in 25 years,
“Reaching a 25-year low for youth tobacco product use is an extraordinary milestone for public health. However, with more than 2 million youth using tobacco products and certain groups not experiencing declines in use, our mission is far from complete,” Deirdre Lawrence Kittner, director of CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, said in a news release announcing the new data.
Rates of use of traditional cigarettes are also meager: Only 1.4 percent of middle- and high-school kids now smoke, the report found.
“We’re headed in the right direction when it comes to reducing tobacco product use among our nation’s youth,” said Brian King, director of the US Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products. “But we can’t take our foot off the gas. Continued vigilance is needed to continue to reduce all forms of tobacco product use among youth. Addressing disparities remains an essential part of these efforts to ensure that we don’t leave anyone behind.”
Modern oral nicotine pouches now rank as the second most popular tobacco product, with 2.4 percent of high school students using them regularly, an FDA release states.
“Nicotine pouch sales have substantially increased nationwide since 2016,” noted the team led by CDC investigator Ahmed Jamal, and “nearly one million (890,000) students reported ever using nicotine pouches in 2024.”
Still, the overall trends are positive, and by 2024 only 1 in every 10 middle-and high-school students was using any form of tobacco product.