The Maine Department of Health and Human Services and the Maine Department of Education have released the results of the 2023 Maine Integrated Youth Health Survey (MIYHS). This biennial survey assesses various attitudes and behaviors among Maine middle and high school students, including substance use, nutrition, physical activity, and mental health. There’s good news for policymakers concerned about tobacco and vapor product use: The use of traditional tobacco products has reached an all-time low in 2023, and vapor product use has significantly declined in recent years.
Among Maine high schoolers, in 2023, 16.6% reported ever trying a combustible cigarette, while 5.6% reported current use—defined as using the product on at least one day in the 30 days preceding the survey. From 2021 to 2023, ever-use of cigarettes among these students decreased by 5.7%, although current use slightly increased by 1.8% from 5.5% in 2021. Despite this slight increase, these figures are at record lows. In 2009, the first year the MIYHS was administered, 40.8% of Maine high school students reported ever using cigarettes, with 17.6% reporting current use. From 2009 to 2023, ever-use decreased by 59.3%, and current use declined by 68.2%.
The use of other traditional tobacco products is also down. In 2023, only 3.1% of Maine high school students reported current use of smokeless tobacco products—chewing tobacco, dip, dissolvable tobacco, and snus—a 47.6% decline from 2009. Current cigar use has dropped significantly as well, with 4.5% of students reporting current use in 2023, a 68.1% decline from 14.1% in 2009.
With traditional tobacco use plummeting, many policymakers have shifted their focus to youth vaping. Similar to national trends, vaping among high school students in Maine peaked in 2019, with 45.1% reporting ever-use and 28.7% reporting current use of e-cigarettes. Between 2019 and 2023, ever-use of e-cigarettes decreased by 32.6%, and current use by 45.6%. These declines continued between 2021 and 2023, with ever-use decreasing by 4.1% and current use by 10.3%.
Among middle school students, tobacco and vapor product use has seen similar declines. In 2023, 6.4% of middle schoolers reported ever using a combustible cigarette, while 2% reported current use. From 2009 to 2023, ever-use among middle school students decreased by 65.6%, and current use by 62.3%. Current use of smokeless tobacco and cigars is also down in 2023, with both at 1.5% among middle schoolers, marking declines of 44.4% and 58.3% respectively since 2009.
Youth vaping peaked in 2019 among middle school students, with 16.3% reporting ever-use and 7% current use. Between 2019 and 2023, ever-use of e-cigarettes declined by 30.1%, and current use by 18.6%.
Policymakers should acknowledge these historic lows in traditional tobacco product use and significant declines in e-cigarette use among youth. While youth e-cigarette use has dropped, the percentage of adults in Maine and across the U.S. using e-cigarettes has risen. These increases occur alongside a sharp decline in cigarette sales. It’s crucial that lawmakers avoid imposing unnecessary restrictions on alternatives to cigarettes that are less harmful, especially given the ongoing reduction in youth tobacco and vapor product use.
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.