The number of middle and high school smokers hasn’t dropped over four years, despite federal and state efforts, with federal findings showing e-cigarettes the most commonly used tobacco product among youths.
About 4.7 million students smoked in 2015, roughly the same amount as in 2011, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency found that 3 million students used e-cigarettes last year, up from 2.46 million in 2014.
The stagnant figures come as the White House has made several high-profile initiatives to fight smoking.
The Food and Drug Administration is on the cusp of announcing sweeping regulations for e-cigarettes that are expected to include a ban on sales to minors and bans on flavored liquids. Opponents of the liquids, which can vary from mango to cotton candy, say that they can entice younger kids to take up e-cigarettes.
CDC officials said that e-cigarettes aren’t safer than normal cigarettes.
“No form of youth tobacco use is safe,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden. “Nicotine is an addictive drug and use during adolescence may cause lasting harm to brain development.”
In addition to e-cigarettes and regular cigarette use, about 8.6 percent of high school students smoked cigars and 7.2 percent hookahs. Use of products differed by race, with blacks more likely to smoke cigars and whites and Hispanics more likely to turn to e-cigarettes, the CDC said.
The CDC noted that targeting youth smoking is imperative to driving down smoking rates, saying that 90 percent of all adult smokers tried smoking as a teen.
“Fully implementing proven tobacco control strategies could prevent another generation of Americans from suffering from tobacco-related diseases and premature deaths,” said Corrine Graffunder, director of CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health.
