E-Cigarette Use Triples Among Middle And High School Students In One Year

The second most popular tobacco product for middle and high school students is hookah

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E-cigarette use among middle and high school students has exceeded that of every other tobacco product, according to a new study.

The 2014 National Youth Tobacco Survey, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Drug Administration's Center for Tobacco Products shows e-cigarette use among middle and high school students has skyrocketed in the past year. Use among high school students jumped from 4.5% in 2013 to 13.4% in 2014. For middle school students, e-cigarette use more than tripled from 1.1% to 3.9% in the past year.

"Marketing is about sex, flavors, free samples," Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the CDC said on a phone call with reporters, according to U.S. News and World Report. "Although cigarette ads … haven't been on TV since 1971, kids are now seeing e-cigarettes on TV … including themes of glamour, rebellion, celebrity, sports, music events, candy and fruit flavors."

The survey defined "use" as smoking e-cigarettes on at least one day during the past month.

"We want parents to know that nicotine is dangerous for kids at any age, whether it's an e-cigarette, hookah, cigarette or cigar," Frieden said. "Adolescence is a critical time for brain development. Nicotine exposure at a young age may cause lasting harm to brain development, promote addiction, and lead to sustained tobacco use."

The survey is a questionnaire given to 22,000 students in both public and private schools. In 2014, 22,000 students were surveyed. The FDA does not yet regulate e-cigarettes, which heat a liquid nicotine solution that creates a vapor.

"In today's rapidly evolving tobacco marketplace, the surge in youth use of novel products like e-cigarettes forces us to confront the reality that the progress we have made in reducing youth cigarette smoking rates is being threatened," said Mitch Zeller, J.D., director of FDA's Center for Tobacco Products, said in a statement. "These staggering increases in such a short time underscore why FDA intends to regulate these additional products to protect public health."

The second most popular tobacco product for middle and high school students was hookah. Data shows hookah use nearly doubled in the last year from 5.2% to 9.4%.