More Teens Are Using Flavored E-Cigs as Menthol Smoking Declines

(Bloomberg) -- Teenagers are vaping more flavored nicotine liquids and ingesting fewer flavored tobacco products like menthol cigarettes, according to a new government survey of high school and middle school students.

• Overall, 3.15 million teens used flavored tobacco products last year, down from 3.26 million in 2014, according to results published Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But flavored e-cigarette use among high school students who use tobacco products jumped to 67.8% last year from 65.1% in 2014.

Key Insights

• The results may give momentum to state and federal regulators who want to restrict use of flavored e-cigarettes. U.S. health officials are racing to find the cause of a mysterious vaping lung ailment that has sickened 805 people and killed more than 12.
• The study confirms that e-cigarettes remain appealing to kids. Overall, more than 3.6 million middle school and high school students used e-cigarettes last year.
• The findings are more bad news for companies like Juul Labs Inc., which dominates the U.S. market. Flash drive-shaped devices, such as those sold by Juul, “can be used discreetly, have a higher nicotine content than earlier-generation e-cigarettes, and are available in flavors that appeal to youths,” the federal researchers concluded.

Know More

• The Federal Trade Commission has issued orders to six e-cigarette manufacturers, including Juul, for information to study their sales, advertising and promotional methods.
• The Trump administration said this month that it would restrict sale of flavored e-cigarettes. About a dozen U.S. states U.S. and cities have taken, or are considering steps, to limit access to e-cigarette products.

To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Langreth in New York at rlangreth@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Drew Armstrong at darmstrong17@bloomberg.net, Mark Schoifet, Timothy Annett

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