Health alert: Up to one quarter of US teens are vaping

Vaping has become a new battleground between tobacco lobbyists and anti-smoking campaigners. — © AFP/File

Vaping among young people represents a significant health issue, especially with those taking up vaping without ever having smoked conventional cigarettes. In the US, rates are rising although there are regional differences.

West Virginia has been named as the underage vaping hotspot, where high school e-cigarette use is 53 percent higher than the national average. Alaska ranks second, while Montana and Louisiana tie for third.

Addiction treatment specialists at The Freedom Center analysed data from the American Lung Association on youth smoking in the US to reveal which states have the highest prevalence of underage e-cigarette use.

As of December 2019, federal law prohibits the sale of all tobacco and vapor products to anyone under the age of 21; however, states may choose to continue with their current minimum age law at the risk of losing federal funding.

West Virginia is the underage vaping hotspot of the US, with 27.5 percent of high schoolers using e-cigarettes. In West Virginia, the use of vape products is banned in schools and on school grounds, except for those areas not used for instructional purposes and that are inaccessible to students. You must also be 18 or older to buy or use a vape.

However, West Virginia’s Clean Indoor Air Act has not been amended to prohibit the use of vapor products where smoking is also banned, and you do not need a retail license to sell e-cigarettes. The state also has the second-highest rates of both high school smoking at 7.6 percent and high school tobacco use at 27 percent.

Alaska is second, where approximately 26.1 percent of teenagers vape. You must be 19 or over to lawfully purchase and/or use a vape in Alaska, except for e-cigarettes approved by the FDA and used under medical supervision for smoking cessation purposes, or if a pharmacist provides it to a person over 18 years old without a prescription.

Although the law has been amended to prohibit the use of vape products where smoking is also banned, Alaska has both the highest high school smoking rates and high school tobacco use rates in the US, at 8.4 percent and 33.7 percent respectively.

Tied for third are Montana and Louisiana, where 25.5 percent of high school students use e-cigarettes. In Montana, you must be 18 or over to use or buy a vape product and a retail license or permit is required to sell e-cigarettes. Louisiana has slightly different laws; you must be 21 or older to purchase an e-cigarette, and the possession of vapour products by persons under the age of 21 is prohibited unless accompanied by a parent or in a private residence.

New Mexico is a close fourth; 25.4 percent of teenagers use a vape. In fifth is Wyoming, with 24.2 percent of high schoolers using e-cigarettes.

America’s top 10 underage vaping hotspots