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Photo by CDC1
  • From 2017 to 2019, current e-cigarette use more than doubled among high school students (from 11.7% to 27.5%) and tripled among middle school students (from 3.3% to 10.5%)2
  • Studies show that youth who start using e-cigarettes can progress to traditional cigarette use with one study showing teens who use e-cigarettes are 6 times more likely to use conventional cigarettes.3
  • According to the U.S. Surgeon General, youth use of nicotine in any form, including e-cigarettes, is unsafe, causes addiction and can harm adolescent brain development, impacting attention, memory and learning.4
  • Because youth’s brain is highly sensitive to addictive psychostimulants like nicotine, it is much easier to get addicted to nicotine. Starting to use nicotine prior to the age of 19 results in greater addiction, and a much more difficult time quitting. (Surgeon General's Report, Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults 2012)4
  • E-cigarettes, like other tobacco products, can contain other harmful substances besides nicotine including harmful flavorings, cancer causing chemicals, heavy metals, and volatile organic compounds.5
  • Popular e-cigarettes among youth, like JUUL, have high levels of nicotine. According to the manufacturer, a single JUUL pod contains as much nicotine as a pack of 20 regular cigarettes.6,7
  1. Gentzke, A. S., Creamer, M., Cullen, K. A., Ambrose, B. K., Willis, G., Jamal, A., & King, B. A. (2019). Vital Signs: Tobacco Product Use Among Middle and High School Students — United States, 2011–2018. MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 68(6), 157–164. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm6806e1
  2. Cullen, K. A., Gentzke, A. S., Sawdey, M. D., Chang, J. T., Anic, G. M., Wang, T. W., . . . King, B. A. (2019). e-Cigarette Use Among Youth in the United States, 2019. JAMA. doi:10.1001/jama.2019.18387
  3. Jessica L. Barrington-Trimis, Robert Urman, Kiros Berhane, Jennifer B. Unger, Tess Boley Cruz, Mary Ann Pentz, Jonathan M. Samet, Adam M. Leventhal, Rob McConnell E-Cigarettes and Future Cigarette Use Pediatrics Jul 2016, 138 (1) e20160379; DOI: 10.1542/peds.2016-0379
  4. 2012 Surgeon General's Report. (2014, November 25).
  5. US Department of Health and Human Services. E-cigarette Use Among Youth and Young Adults: A Report of the Surgeon General [PDF – 8.47MB]. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC; 2016. Accessed July 27, 2018.
  6. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2020. Quick Facts On The Risks Of E-Cigarettes For Young People. [online] Available at: [Accessed 14 April 2020].
  7. Willett JG, Bennett M, Hair EC, et al Recognition, use and perceptions of JUUL among youth and young adults. Tobacco Control Published Online First: 18 April 2018. doi: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2018-054273
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