E-Cigarette use doubles among junior and high school students

Photo by Flickr user Michael Dorausch

The CDC has found that the popularity of electronic cigarettes is growing among American teens: Between 2011 and 2012, the percent of junior high and high school students who smoked “e-cigarettes” more than doubled. In 2012, 10 percent of high school students had tried an e-cigarette. In hard numbers, more than 1.78 million junior high and high school students had tried e-cigarettes in 2012. The CDC also found that more than 75 percent of youth e-cigarette users smoke regular cigarettes as well, and that only one in five junior high school students who said they had used e-cigarettes also said they’d never tried regular cigarettes.

“The increased use of e-cigarettes by teens is deeply troubling,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden in a statement. “Nicotine is a highly addictive drug. Many teens who start with e-cigarettes may be condemned to struggling with a lifelong addiction to nicotine and conventional cigarettes.”

H/T Elizabeth Shell