What Parents Need to Know

Did you know that 1 in 10 high school students uses e-cigarettes? Nationally, over 2.1 million middle and high school students use these products, which means that even if your child is not using e-cigarettes, they almost certainly have friends who are. Rates of youth e-cigarette use more than doubled between 2017 and 2019, to the point that the U.S. Surgeon General declared the problem an “epidemic.”

Kids aren’t just experimenting with e-cigarettes. Many are using these products most days or every day, a sure sign they’re becoming addicted. In 2023, nearly 40% of high school e-cigarette users vaped on at least 20 days a month, and nearly 30% reported vaping every day. Flavored products are what are driving youth use. In fact, nearly 90% of youth e-cigarette users use flavored products, with fruit, candy/desserts/other sweets, mint and menthol reported as the most popular flavors.

Parents need to understand how prevalent e-cigarettes are – and the serious health risks they pose to young people – in order to protect kids from this threat. Many of these products look like school supplies such as pens, highlighters or flash drives, and they can be disguised as watches or tucked into the sleeve of a hoodie. These disguises help kids hide them from parents and teachers, but just knowing what to look for puts you one step ahead.

E-cigarettes are also sold in a huge variety of kid-friendly flavors, from gummy bear and pink lemonade to mango, mint and menthol. Studies have found that most youth e-cigarette users use flavored products and say they use these products “because they come in flavors I like.” These flavors hide the fact that e-cigarettes can deliver massive doses of nicotine, which is a highly addictive drug. Some of the e-cigarettes on the market today can contain as much nicotine as 20 packs of cigarettes or more. Most kids have no idea that they’re consuming so much nicotine and can become addicted very quickly.

These high-nicotine products are causing severe addiction in kids and disrupting their lives and education. Parents, teachers and pediatricians are sharing that kids can’t get through a class or sleep through the night without needing to vape, and they’re having extreme difficulty quitting e-cigarettes.

A 2016 Surgeon General’s report concluded that youth use of nicotine in any form, including e-cigarettes, is unsafe, causes addiction and can harm the developing brain of adolescents, especially the parts of the brain responsible for memory, attention and learning. E-cigarette use can also expose kids to harmful chemicals like formaldehyde and lead. We don’t know yet what the long-term health impact of using these products will be – our kids shouldn’t be guinea pigs.

The industry’s latest trick is to introduce e-cigarettes that look like smartphones and even include built-in video games like Pac-Man. One game has a virtual pet, which you feed with coins that you acquire by vaping. These products are designed not just to attract kids, but to get them to consume even more nicotine.

Some of the most popular products brands among youth include Elf Bar, Esco Bars, Vuse, and Mr. Fog. And of course, there is still Juul, which caused the youth e-cigarette epidemic in the first place and is still popular among kids.

Right now, almost all of the e-cigarettes being sold in the United States are on the market illegally. Under federal law, e-cigarettes are not allowed to be sold without authorization by the FDA. To date, the FDA has authorized the sale of only 34 e-cigarette products, most of which are tobacco flavored. Yet thousands of illegal products continue to be sold, and new ones are being introduced all the time.

This is a lot of scary news – but there are people fighting this problem and you can too! Currently, health advocates are calling for policymakers across the country to eliminate all flavored e-cigarettes from the market, and urging that the FDA and other agencies step up their efforts to enforce the law and clear the market of all these illegal e-cigarettes. And, a growing number of states and cities are taking action and have passed laws banning flavored e-cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products. You can help us fight flavored e-cigarettes by signing our petition to the FDA and contacting your elected officials at all levels and urge them to take action to protect kids.

It’s also important to educate yourself about these products and talk to your kids about the health risks of e-cigarettes and create an open dialogue with them. Know the products, know the risks, know the signs of use, and make sure you can protect your children against this youth health crisis in America.

For more information: tobaccofreekids.org/ecigarettes.