By Tom Latek
Kentucky Today
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released federal data from the 2022 National Youth Tobacco Survey on e-cigarette use among U.S. youth on Thursday, finding 2.5 million middle and high school students use the products.
The study, conducted January-May 2022 using an online survey, shows that about 1 in 10 U.S. middle (3.3%) and high (14.1%) school students reported e-cigarette use in the past 30 days.
Among these youth e-cigarette users, nearly 85% reported using flavored e-cigarettes, and more than 1 in 4 (27.6%) reported daily use of an e-cigarette.
Due to changes in methodology, including differences in survey administration and data collection procedures in recent years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ability to compare estimates from 2022 with those from prior survey results is limited; differences between estimates might be due to changes in methodology, actual behavior, or both.
“The FDA remains deeply concerned about e-cigarette use among our nation’s youth,” said FDA Commissioner Robert M Califf, M.D. “It’s clear that we still have a serious public health problem that threatens the years of progress we have made combatting youth tobacco product use. We cannot and will not let our guard down on this issue. The FDA remains steadfast in its commitment to using the full range of our authorities to address youth e-cigarette use head-on.”
Among current youth e-cigarette users, the most commonly used device type was disposables. The top three brands that current youth e-cigarette users reported “usually” using were Puff Bar (14.5%), Vuse (12.5%), and Hyde (5.5%). While Puff Bar and Vuse were pre-specified response options on the survey, Hyde was not. Students wrote in Hyde as their preferred brand, and because of this, the reported percentage of use is likely an underestimate.
The FDA announced two steps they are taking.
First, issuing a warning letter to EVO Brands LLC and PVG2, LLC, doing business as Puff Bar, for receiving and delivering e-cigarettes in the U.S. without a marketing authorization order.
Second, after reviewing premarket tobacco applications for 32 Hyde e-cigarettes, the FDA issued marketing denial orders for these applications submitted by Magellan Technology Inc.
The FDA notes, use of tobacco products in any form, including e-cigarettes, is unsafe, especially among youth. Keeping tobacco products out of the hands of youth remains a top priority for the FDA, and they say the steps they have taken mark important progress toward achieving that goal.
very informative article. Thank you!