E-Cigarette Use and Epidemic Among Young People

I recently attended the National Summit on Smokeless Tobacco in Sacramento. Representatives from both the CDC and the FDA referred to e-cigarette use among high school students as an "epidemic."

According to the National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS), released by the CDC and the FDA, e-cigarettes have been the most commonly used tobacco product among youth since 2014. In 2017, 11.7 percent of high schoolers and 3.3 percent of middle schoolers reported current use of e-cigarettes. Among high school students, e-cigarette use increased from 1.5 percent in 2011 to 11.7 percent in 2017, peaking at 16.0 percent in 2015.(1)

An estimated 340,000 middle and high school students are frequent users of e-cigarettes. More than a quarter of high school e-cigarette users had used e-cigarettes on at least ten days in the previous month.(2)

The 2014 NHIS data found that nearly 10 percent of 18- to 24-year olds who have never smoked cigarettes had tried an e-cigarette.(3)

All of these numbers are alarming to me because I have witnessed an increase in vaping on the LSU campus since our 100% Tobacco-Free Policy went into effect on Aug. 1, 2014. At that time, most of the people on the policy committee had never heard of e-cigarettes and hookahs were viewed as a fad that was waning.

The more high school students are using e-cigarettes, the more likely that colleges will see an uptick in use. Yet, what are colleges doing to fight this epidemic? LSU is doing virtually nothing. I doubt that we are alone.

I am about to conduct the next campus survey in my tobacco use tracking that I've been doing since 2000. I will be able to compare current e-cigarette use with 2015 data. Use of tobacco on the LSU campus among students has never been below 22 percent (after a high of nearly 30% in 2005 following the trauma of Hurricane Katrina). I hope to be able to learn what percentage currently are using some type of tobacco, especially those who are using e-cigarettes.

I hope the FDA takes action soon to eliminate flavored tobacco that obviously are appealing to young tobacco users. I hope the FDA will remove some e-cigarette brands from the market.

In case you have missed the news during the past few months, R.J. Reynolds recalled 2.6 million electronic cigarette Vuse Vibe power units earlier this year because the batteries could overheat and create a fire risk.

Users also need to be aware that an exploding battery can cause serious injury and even death to themselves and people near them. E-cigarette cartridges contain pure nicotine, the most addictive substance on the planet. Since nicotine easily is absorbed through the skin, nicotine poisoning is a real danger to children, pets and anyone who handles a leaking cartridge.

Still, e-cigarettes pose a dilemma for the CDC and FDA. Long-time adult smokers can benefit from the less dangerous e-cigarette use IF they stop using combustible tobacco. But, for young people and college students, e-cigarettes are providing another way for Big Tobacco to hook another generation.

Please be informed about the dangers e-cigarettes are posing. The only safe way to use tobacco is not to use it at all and to stay clear of people who are addicted and don't care if they expose others to secondhand smoke and vapor.

1 CDC, "Tobacco Use Among Middle and High School Students—United States, 2011-2017," MMWR, 67(22): 629-633, June 7, 2018, https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/67/wr/pdfs/mm6722a3-H.pdf. Current use defined as any use in the past month. 2 CDC, "Frequency of Tobacco Use Among Middle and High School Students — United States, 2014," MMWR, 64(38):1061-1065, October 2015 http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6438a1.htm 3 Schoenborn, CA & Gindi, RM, "Electronic Cigarette Use Among Adults: United States, 2014," National Center on Health Statistics (NCHS) Data Brief, No. 217, October 2015, http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db217.htm.