Sept. 16 (UPI) — U.S. health officials have targeted youth vaping in a new campaign amid the high popularity of e-cigarettes used by young people.
On Tuesday, the Surgeon General’s office in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services unveiled its new resource guide on youth and teen vaping to counter what many fear is a rising tide on e-cigarette use among America’s younger population.
“Youth vaping is not a harmless trend,” said Dr. Stephanie Haridopolos, senior adviser and acting chief of staff in the office of the U.S. Surgeon General.
More than 1.6 million youth last year reported vaping, and, additionally, up to 85% of e-cigarette devices and pods sold in U.S. retailers are considered to be “illegal products,” according to federal authorities.
87.6% of teens e-cigarette users in 2024 used flavored e-cigarettes.
Flavors are hooking kids and putting their health at risk.
Get the facts. Protect our youth.
https://t.co/jAu9SLcfdn#StopYouthVaping pic.twitter.com/mqMAQLkb7C— U.S. Surgeon General (@Surgeon_General) September 15, 2025
HHS officials argue that, despite evidence that alcohol use is on the decline, e-cigarette use among U.S. middle- and high-school students remains robust, saying that e-cigarette vaping is the most commonly used tobacco product by youth.
A recent study indicates that vaping appears to act as a gateway to cigarette smoking among younger Americans, even though a separate Australian study suggested that vaping may be better than traditional nicotine therapy if used to quit smoking.
In a statement, Haridopolos called vaping a “serious threat” to the health and development of American children.
Vape products often contain high concentrations of the highly-addictive nicotine.
On Tuesday, health officials reiterated that nicotine disrupts brain development in children, worsens anxiety or depression symptoms, and increases risk of chronic disease because of blood vessel damage caused by nicotine.
According to the Haridopolos, the new federal guide is a wide-reaching “call to action for all of us” in the public fight to “protect our youth from the dangers of nicotine addiction and toxic exposure.”
Complicating the topic, authorities say, is that, despite ongoing federal efforts to combat the issue, “illegal sales persist” in the United States.
Also, officials said, the rise of illicit flavored vaping products has been fueled by aggressive youth-targeted marketing. In April, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an FDA decision that rejected the marketability of fruit-flavored liquid vapes.
“The FDA and our federal partners are taking swift action to seize millions of illegal vapes at ports, distributors and retailers,” according to FDA Commissioner Marty Makary.
“American kids should not be getting hooked on addictive vaping devices,” he said. “Especially ones that have been imported illegally from our adversaries.”
An HHS report unveiled earlier this month called for actionable steps to be taken to curtail youth vaping, including greater enforcement efforts, legislation and an overall unified effort.
Recently, the Arizona-based trade organization American Vapor Manufacturers pushed back on federal assertions of a vaping epidemic among youth.
On Thursday, the group pointed out that Makary’s office claimed “over the past year, current youth e-cig use declined from 2.13 million in 2023 to 1.63 million in 2024,” which AVM added was “vanishingly small” to a “5.9% vape ‘in the past 30 days’ and 0.8% daily.”
“Again: Declining. A lot,” AVM posted on X. “Ergo: Not an epidemic.”
Singapore recently imposed higher fees and even threatened caning in an effort to crack down on the use of drug-laced vapes there.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.