Adolescent Vaping:
Current Trends, Research and Best Practices
E-cigarette use has become an epidemic among our nation’s young people... We must take action now to protect the health of our nation’s young people.
Former U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams (2018)
Choose any section below to learn more.
Resources
- Best Practices Education Programs
ASPIRE: A free, online tobacco prevention and cessation program available in English and Spanish for middle and high school students to learn how to be tobacco-free.
CATCH My Breath. (n.d.). Youth E-Cigarette & JUUL Prevention Program.
Stanford Medicine Tobacco Prevention Toolkit.
Texas Department of State Health Services, Texas Youth Tobacco Awareness Program (TYTAP).
Texas Department of State Health Services, Tobacco Prevention and Control Program.
The Real Cost: The FDA’s campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of vaping among the 10.7 million teens who use or are open to trying e-cigarettes. Videos and educational ads are placed in high school restrooms, on YouTube and other digital platforms, and on social media feeds.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). E-cigarette, or Vaping, Products Visual Dictionary.
Texas Department of State Health Services. (2021). Vaping web page.
Texas Department of State Health Services. (2021). EVALI information web page, including a form to report a case of EVALI.
- Helpful Resources for Patients and Families
Cessation Resources:
National Cancer Institute. Smokefree Apps: QuitGuide and quitSTART. Free apps to help youth understand their smoking or vaping patterns and build skills to become and stay smoke-free. The apps can track cravings by time of day and location, and can provide motivational messages for each craving.
The National Cancer Institute also created Smokefree.gov to help tobacco users quit. Smokefree Teen is a branch of Smokefree.gov that can help teens create a plan for vaping cessation. The vaping cessation program provides information about:
- How to Quit Vaping
- Your First Day Without Vaping
- Deal with Vape Cravings
- Understand your Vaping Triggers
- Vaping Addiction and Nicotine Withdrawal
- Anxiety, Stress, and Vaping
- Depression and Vaping
This program can be found at teen.smokefree.gov.
Stanford Medicine Tobacco Prevention Toolkit .
This is Quitting, from The Truth Initiative: Provides free, confidential and anonymous text support to teens who want to quit vaping. Those who sign up receive daily text messages tailored to their age, sign-up date and quit date. Daily texts also aim to help teens who vape quit by building their confidence through exercises, tips and advice. Young people can enroll by texting “QUIT” to 206-222-QUIT or by visiting the This is Quitting website.
University of Texas at Austin, Tobacco Research and Evaluation Team. Apps for referring individuals to the Texas Tobacco Quit Line.
- Other Resources
American Lung Association. (2021). Talk to Your Child About Vaping.
CATCH My Breath modules for middle and high school students.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018). Quick Facts on the Risks of E-cigarettes for Kids, Teens, and Young Adults.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). E-cigarette, or Vaping, Products Visual Dictionary.
National Cancer Institute. (n.d.). SmokeFree Teen.
National Cancer Institute. Live-help online chat for assistance with smoking cessation. Available in English and Spanish, Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern time.
National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2020). What are vaping devices?
Texas Department of State Health Services. Tobacco Prevention and Control Program.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Center for Tobacco Products. The FDA’s “The Real Cost,” a tobacco prevention health campaign, expanded in 2018 to educate teens about the dangers of e-cigarettes.
- References Featured in Course
Abou-Sabe, K., & McFadden, C. (2018, November 1). As teen use of Juul soars, doctors ask, what's really in these e-cigs? NBC News.
American Academy of Pediatrics, familydoctor.org. (2021). Dangers of Vaping.
American Academy of Pediatrics. (2020). Liquid Nicotine Used in E-Cigarettes Can Kill Children.
American Academy of Pediatrics. (2019). Policy Statement: E-Cigarettes and Similar Devices.
American Academy of Pediatrics. (2018). AAP News: E-cigarette studies bust safety myths.
American Academy of Pediatrics. (2017). Technical Report: Nicotine and Tobacco as Substances of Abuse in Children and Adolescents. Pediatrics, 139(1): e20163436.
American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Physicians, American Academy of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, & American Medical Association. (2017). Electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS).
American Cancer Society. (2018). JUUL E-cigarettes and Youth: What You Need to Know.
American Lung Association. (2021). Talk to Your Child About Vaping.
CATCH My Breath. (n.d.). Youth Vaping Prevention Program.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020). E-cigarette Use Among Middle and High School Students — United States, 2020. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), 69(37), 1310-1312.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020). Electronic Cigarettes: Get the facts about electronic cigarettes, their health effects and the risks of using e-cigarettes.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020). About Electronic Cigarettes (E-Cigarettes): What’s the Bottom Line?
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020). Outbreak of Lung Injury Associated with the Use of E-Cigarette, or Vaping, Products.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020). Office on Smoking and Health (OSH).
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018). Notes from the Field: Use of Electronic Cigarettes and Any Tobacco Product Among Middle and High School Students — United States, 2011–2018. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), 67(45);1276–1277.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020). Electronic Cigarettes.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018). About Electronic Cigarettes.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018). Exposure to Electronic Cigarette Advertising Among Middle and High School Students — United States, 2014–2016. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), 67(10):294-299.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Health Care Professionals: Educate Your Young Patients About the Risks of E-cigarettes.
City of San Antonio, Metropolitan Health District. (2021). Tobacco & Vaping.
Fisher, M. T., Tan-Torres, S. M., Gaworski, C. L., Black, R. A., & Sarkar, M. A. (2019). Smokeless tobacco mortality risks: an analysis of two contemporary nationally representative longitudinal mortality studies. Harm Reduction Journal, 16(27).
Glanz, S. A. (2018). First Evidence of Long-Term Health Damage from Ecigs: Smoking E-Cigarettes Daily Doubles Risk of Heart Attacks.
Kim, S. A., Smith, S., Beauchamp, C., Song, Y., Chiang, M., Giuseppetti, . . . Kim, J. J. (2018). Cariogenic potential of sweet flavors in electronic-cigarette liquids. Plos One, 13(9), e0203717.
National Cancer Institute. (n.d.). SmokeFree Teen.
National Capital Poison Center. (2021). E-Cigs and Toddlers: Beware.
National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2020). Monitoring the Future Study: Trends in Prevalence of Various Drugs.
National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2020). What are vaping devices?
Rubinstein, M. L., Delucchi, K., Benowitz, N. L., & Ramo, D. E. (2018). Adolescent Exposure to Toxic Volatile Organic Chemicals From E-Cigarettes. Pediatrics, 141(4): e20173557.
Siqueira, L. M., & the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Substance Use and Prevention. (2017). Technical Report: Nicotine and Tobacco as Substances of Abuse in Children and Adolescents. Pediatrics, 139(1):e20163436.
Stanford Medicine News Center. (2020). Vaping linked to COVID-19 risk in teens and young adults.
Statista. (2020). Dollar share of nicotine vaping sales in the United States in 2020, by brand.
Texas A&M University. (2020) Texas School Survey of Drug and Alcohol Use.
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. (n.d.). Programs: Tobacco Enforcement, Partners and the Public.
Texas Department of State Health Services. (2018). Anticipatory Guidance-A Guide for Providers.
Texas Health and Human Services Commission & Texas Department of State Health Services. (2019). Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (E-Cigarette) Report.
Texas Health and Safety Code. Sec. 161.082. (Minor in possession law).
Texas Women’s University. (2017). 5 things you didn’t know about vaping.
The Truth Initiative. (2020). What are Puff Bars?
The Truth Initiative. (2019). 6 important things to know about IQOS, the new heated cigarette product.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2020). 2020 Findings on All Tobacco Use.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2020). Youth Tobacco Use: Results from the National Youth Tobacco Survey.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2018). “The Real Cost” Youth E-Cigarette Prevention Campaign.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2018). News Release. FDA takes new steps to address epidemic of youth e-cigarette use, including a historic action against more than 1,300 retailers and 5 major manufacturers for their roles perpetuating youth access.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2018). Summary of federal rules for tobacco retailers.
U.S. Surgeon General. (2018). Surgeon General releases advisory on E-cigarette epidemic among youth.
U.S. Surgeon General. (2018). Surgeon General releases advisory on E-cigarette epidemic among youth. Press release, December 18.
U.S. Surgeon General. (2018). Know the Risks: E-cigarettes and young people.
Yuan, M., Cross, S. J., Loughlin, S. E. & Leslie, F. M. (2015). Nicotine and the Adolescent Brain. The Journal of Physiology, 593,16: 3397-412.
Zhu, S-H., Sun, J. Y., Bonnevie, E., Cummins, S. E., Gamst, A., Yin, L., & Lee, M. (2014). Four hundred and sixty brands of e-cigarettes and counting: implications for product regulation. Tobacco Control, 23, supplement 3.
Medical Definitions
The medical definitions in this quick course were adapted from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Kids Health from Nemours, National Library of Medicine and the New York Times.