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In 2022, more than 2.5 million US middle and high school students reported 

currently using e-cigarettes, and over 8 in 10 of them used flavored e-cigarettes.

IMPACT 

FROM THE 

FIELD

What Works to Prevent 

Youth Initiation?

• Promote smoke-free/

tobacco-free policies in

all places. 

• Raise the price of tobacco

products.

• Prevent youth access to

tobacco products

through the retail

environment–especially

flavored tobacco

products.

• Curb marketing of

tobacco products aimed 

at youth.

What CDC-Funded States Are Doing

Any tobacco use among young people is unsafe. Nicotine 

is addictive and can harm the developing brain.

CDC funds 50 states and the District of Columbia to 

prevent and reduce disease and death from commercial* 

tobacco use. Recipients focus on evidence-based 

strategies to:

• Prevent young people from using tobacco

products.

• Help people quit using tobacco products.

• Eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke.

• Advance health equity by identifying and 

eliminating tobacco-related inequities and disparities.

In 2021, the California Tobacco Control 

Program ran a media campaign on 

television, radio and streaming audio, 

digital, social media, and print. 

The campaign, Tell Your Story, focused on youth and 

young adults who use e- cigarettes, or vape, and promoted the I Can Quit text message program for vaping 

cessation. The campaign reached 169 million people and 

enrolled 678 youth and young adults in I Can Quit.

Preventing E-Cigarette and Emerging 

Tobacco Product Use Among Young People
 Since 2021, Connecticut’s statewide smoke free air law was updated to 

 prohibit cigarette smoking and vaping in workplaces of any size, and smoking

 rooms are not allowed. This will protect Connecticut citizens, including over 

 700,000 young people, from secondhand smoke and secondhand e-cigarette 

 aerosol and promote tobacco-free norms in communities. 

To support students and encourage them to quit using tobacco products, the 

Florida Tobacco Control Program worked with 42 school districts to implement a 

course on the dangers of tobacco product use as an alternative to suspension for 

students who violate the tobacco-free campus policy. Since 2020, 8,172 students 

were enrolled in the course, and 68% completed it.

To protect the health of young people, over 360 localities, including Chicago, no 

longer allow retailers to sell flavored liquid vaping products. The new law took 

effect October 7, 2020.

In Ohio, 52% of K–12 students attend schools with tobacco-free policies. In 2021, 

38 school districts implemented tobacco-free policies that protect all students, 

staff, and visitors from secondhand smoke and secondhand e-cigarette aerosol in 

all buildings, grounds, and school-sponsored events.

CDC Activities

In addition to monitoring tobacco use among young people, especially through the National 

Youth Tobacco Survey, CDC helps parents, educators, health care providers, and other youth 

influencers talk to young people about the dangers of tobacco products. CDC recently:

• Launched “Protect Young People from E-cigarettes,” a national communication initiative

that educates adult influencers of youth—including teachers, coaches, and school

administrators—about the risks of youth e-cigarette use. Digital and social media

messages have reached more than 92.4 million people, including 9.3 million video

views and more than 411,000 views of CDC’s e-cigarettes web resources. 

• Partnered with the American Academy of Pediatrics to develop and publish Youth

Tobacco Cessation: Considerations for Clinicians, which has been viewed 4,576 times. 

* When CDC references tobacco, we are referring to the use of commercial tobacco and not the sacred and traditional 

use of tobacco by some American Indian communities.

 Learn more at www.cdc.gov/e-cigarettes.