In an unusual move, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released preliminary findings from the 2024 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS). This annual survey tracks the use of tobacco and other nicotine products among middle and high school students in the U.S. The CDC’s early release focuses on the usage of e-cigarettes and oral nicotine pouches. The data reveal that e-cigarette use among U.S. middle and high school students has hit record lows, although nicotine product usage has seen a slight increase in recent years but remains low overall, without the sharp uptick observed in 2019’s youth e-cigarette use.
According to the NYTS, in 2024, 5.9% of American middle and high school students reported currently using e-cigarettes. Current use is defined as having used the product on at least one occasion in the 30 days prior. This represents a 23.4% decline since 2023. Further, this is a significant 70.5% decrease from 2019, when youth vaping peaked at 20%.
Among high school students, only 7.8% reported current e-cigarette use in 2024, down 22% from the previous year and 71.6% from 2019 when more than one-fourth (27.5%) were vaping.
Among middle school students, in 2024, only 3.5% were currently using e-cigarettes—a 23.9% decrease from 2023 and a 66.7% decline from the 10.5% reported in 2019.
Interestingly, the percentage of current youth e-cigarette users who had used disposable vapor products dropped by 8.4%, from 60.7% in 2023 to 55.6% in 2024. Meanwhile, the percentage of youth reporting they didn’t know what type of product they use increased by 26%, from 17.3% to 21.8% over the same period.
The NYTS has recently expanded its focus to include nicotine pouch use. In the NYTS questionnaire, nicotine pouches are defined as “small, flavored pouches [that] are filled with a nicotine-containing powder.” Unlike other smokeless tobacco products including chewing tobacco, dip, or snus, nicotine pouches do not contain any tobacco leaf. Users simply place the pouches in their mouths without the need to spit. The NYTS identifies certain brand names including “ZYN, on!, VELO, or Rogue.”
Youth nicotine pouch use remains low, despite a slight rise in recent years. In 2024, 1.8% of U.S. middle and high school students reported current use of nicotine pouches. This is up slightly from 1.5% in 2023, yet still represents less than 2% of the youth population. Curiously, the use of nicotine pouches decreased by 22.6% among high school students, from 3.1% reporting current use in 2023 to 2.4% in 2024.
Despite these modest increases, the growth in nicotine pouch use has not mirrored the surges previously seen with e-cigarettes. Moreover, there are more urgent concerns, such as safety in schools. For instance, the CDC’s biennial Youth Risk Behavior Survey revealed that 9% of high school students reported being threatened or injured with a weapon on school premises in 2023, a figure 2.9 times higher than the number of students using nicotine pouches.
The latest NYTS findings are encouraging and should aid policymakers in urging federal regulators like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to expedite the approval of tobacco harm reduction products, including e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches. While youth usage of these products remains low or stable, adult use of these products for smoking cessation or to stay smoke-free is on the rise. The FDA should consider this context and not let concerns over youth usage unduly restrict access to potentially beneficial products.
Lindsey Stroud is a Visiting Fellow at Independent Women’s Forum, a Senior Fellow at the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, and a board member with the American Vapor Manufacturers Association.