Teen smoking fell as e-cigarette use boomed: CDC

Teenage use of e-cigarettes tripled from 2013 to 2014, according to a government study released Thursday that says use of electronic butts among middle and high school students now outpaces conventional cigarettes or any other tobacco product.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 13.4 percent of surveyed high school students reported using an e-cigarette at least once in a 30-day period last year, up from 4.5 percent in 2013.

In raw numbers, that’s an uptick from 660,000 to 2 million students.

Among middle school students, e-cigarette use jumped from 1.1 percent to 3.9 percent, or from 120,000 to 450,000 students.

CDC officials said the figures marked the first time e-cigarettes topped its list since it started keeping track in 2011.

They also said their findings underscored the swift rise of novelty tobacco products — and the need for regulators to intervene.

“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, director of FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products. “These staggering increases in such a short time underscore why FDA intends to regulate these additional products to protect public health.”

The survey said hookah use ranked second among high school students, at 9.4 percent, followed by cigarettes (9.2 percent), cigars (8.2 percent), smokeless tobacco (5.5 percent), snus (1.9 percent) and pipes (1.5 percent).

“We want parents to know that nicotine is dangerous for kids at any age, whether it’s an e-cigarette, hookah, cigarette or cigar,” CDC Director Tom 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.”