youth vaping by the numbers

More than
2,000,000
youth currently vape

1 in 4

learn more
Of high school students who vape, 1 in 4 vape every day.1

84.7%

learn more
84.7% of high school and middle school students use flavored e-cigarettes.1 There are over 15,000+ e-cigarette flavors are on the market today.

$217 million

learn more
Ad spending by e-cigarette companies peaked at $217.1 million dollars in 2019.

86.3%

learn more
In 2019, 86.3% of youth (or 22.9 million) reported exposure to tobacco product advertisements or promotions from at least one source. Over 15 million youth were exposed to ads at retail locations. 3

18.3%

learn more
18.3% of students with disabilities reported using e-cigarettes compared to 12.3% of their non-disabled peers.4 That is almost 1.5x more likely than their non-disabled peers.

40.2%

learn more
Transgender youth (40.2%) and female sexual minority youth (37.9%) are almost twice as likely to ever use e-cigarettes compared with cisgender (23%) and straight female youth (20.1%).5

harmful effects of vaping

Vaping can have harmful effects on health. Long-term effects are still emerging. Here’s what we know so far:

learn more
Using nicotine in adolescence can harm the parts of the brain that control attention, learning, mood, and impulse control. A recent CDC study found that 99% of the e-cigarettes sold in the United States contained nicotine.
learn more
E-cigarettes contain harmful chemicals (like formaldehyde and acrolein), and we don’t yet know the long-term effects of these chemicals.
learn more
There may be increased cough and wheeze in adolescents who use e-cigarettes, and an association with e-cigarette use and increased asthma issues.
learn more
Exposure to e-liquids (from drinking, eye contact, or dermal contact) can result in adverse health effects including but not limited to seizures, anoxic brain injury, vomiting, and lactic acidosis.
learn more
E-cigarette users have higher odds of being diagnosed with depression compared to never users.6
learn more
Youth e-cigarette use is associated with greater mental health problems (compared with nonuse).7
  1. Park-Lee E, Ren C, Sawdey MD, et al. Notes from the Field: E-Cigarette Use Among Middle and High School Students — National Youth Tobacco Survey, United States, 2021. MMWR Surveill Summ 2021;70:1387–1389. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7039a4
  2. Welding K, Marynak K, Kelley D, Kennedy R. (2021). ENDS Advertising Markets in the United States, 2015 to 2020.
  3. Wang TW, Gentzke AS, Creamer MR, et al. Tobacco Product Use and Associated Factors Among Middle and High School Students — United States, 2019. MMWR Surveill Summ 2019;68(No. SS-12):1–22. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.ss6812a1
  4. Senders A, Horner-Johnson W. Disparities in E-Cigarette and Tobacco Use Among Adolescents With Disabilities. Prev Chronic Dis 2020;17:E135. Published 2020 Oct 29. Doi:10.5888/pcd17.200161
  5. Johnson SE, O’Brien EK, Coleman B, et al. Sexual and Gender Minority U.S. Youth Tobacco Use: Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study Wave 3, 2015-2016. Am J Prev Med. 2019 Aug;57(2):256-261. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31326009.
  6. Obisesan OH, Mirbolouk M, Osei AD, Orimoloye OA, Uddin SMI, Dzaye O, El Shahawy O, Al Rifai M, Bhatnagar A, Stokes A, Benjamin EJ, DeFilippis AP, Blaha MJ. Association Between e-Cigarette Use and Depression in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2016-2017. JAMA Netw Open. 2019 Dec 2;2(12):e1916800. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.16800.
  7. Becker T, Arnold MK, Ro V, et al. Systematic Review of Electronic Cigarette Use (Vaping) and Mental Health Comorbidity Among Adolescents and Young Adults. Nicotine Tob Res. 2021 Feb 16;23(3): 418-25. https://academic.oup.com/ntr/article/23/3/415/5903402
  8. Kresovich A, Sanzo N, Brothers B, Prentice-Dunn H, Boynton MH, Sutfin EL, Sheeran P, Noar S. What’s in the message? An analysis of themes and features used in vaping prevention messages. Addict Behav Rep. 2021 Dec 27;15:100404.