Youth tobacco use drops to 25-year low, CDC survey concludes

WASHINGTON — The rate of youth tobacco use has dropped to its lowest levels in 25 years, new data from the 2024 National Youth Tobacco Survey revealed.

The survey, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration, found that 2.25 million middle and high school students reported using a tobacco product during one or more days in the past 30 days, compared to 2.8 million in 2023.

Cigarette use among middle and high schoolers dropped to 1.4 percent, the lowest levels since 1999.

While e-cigarette use dropped, e-cigarettes remained the most commonly used tobacco product among youth for the 11th consecutive year, accounting for nearly 5.9 percent, or 1.6 million, of middle and high school students surveyed.

Nicotine pouches were the second most commonly used product, accounting for 1.8 percent of students.

The survey found some disparities across race and ethnicity. For example, use of any tobacco products and multiple tobacco products increased among American Indian or Alaska Native students, and use of nicotine pouches increased among white students.

“We’re headed in the right direction when it comes to reducing tobacco product use among our nation’s youth,” Brian King, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, said in a statement. “But we can’t take our foot off the gas. Continued vigilance is needed to continue to reduce all forms of tobacco product use among youth. Addressing disparities remains an essential part of these efforts to ensure that we don’t leave anyone behind.”

Yolonda Richardson, CEO of the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, celebrated the survey results in a statement Thursday. She said more needs to be done to regulate e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches.

“Nicotine pouches have the same characteristics that made e-cigarettes so appealing to young people, including kid-friendly flavors, heavy promotion on social media and being easy to hide,” Richardson said. “The FDA must continue to closely monitor these products and take action to prevent youth use.”

Cliff Douglas, president and CEO of Global Action to End Smoking, a nonprofit focused on smoking cessation, welcomed the results in a statement to CQ Roll Call, underscoring the need to more closely regulate alternatives to cigarettes.

“What FDA and some others continue to miss is the critical importance of better supporting tens of millions of adults who continue to smoke and require the availability of lawfully marketed reduced-risk products, especially for those who can’t or won’t otherwise stop using lethal combustible tobacco products,” Douglas said.

Lawmakers have repeatedly urged the FDA to move faster on e-cigarette applications and remove illegal products from the market. Currently, the FDA has approved 34 e-cigarette products to come to market, but nearly 500,000 applications are still being worked through, King told lawmakers at a recent House Energy and Commerce health subcommittee hearing.

In a letter addressed to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf and King on Thursday, a group of lawmakers led by Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., and Diana DeGette, D-Colo., assert that the level of youth e-cigarette use is “unacceptably high.”

The lawmakers take issue with the availability of flavored e-cigarette products that appear to be marketed toward younger consumers. They ask that the FDA only approve tobacco-flavored e-cigarette products.

“Leaving flavored e-cigarette products widely available without understanding the full impact they have on attracting youth and other non-tobacco users is dangerous and the FDA must swiftly finalize this review process and use all its enforcement tools available to make sure that kids are protected against illegal, kid-friendly products,” Wasserman Schultz said in a statement.

The lawmakers urged the FDA to work with the Department of Justice and other related agencies to more closely crack down on illegal products.

They gave the FDA until Nov. 15 to respond to questions on how it regulates the e-cigarette market.

The FDA on Monday will hold a joint public meeting with the National Institutes of Health on the agencies’ priorities for smoking cessation for both youth and adults.

The FDA told CQ Roll Call it received the letter and will respond directly to the members.