PROVIDENCE – The number of Rhode Island high school students who use e-cigarettes spiked last year, climbing 10% over numbers collected in 2017, national health experts say.
Thirty percent of Rhode Island high school students used e-cigarettes in 2019, up from 20% two years ago, according to the 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey released this month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Of the teens who reported e-cigarette use, more than one-third said they vape frequently, or at least 20 days out of each month. Nearly 25% of respondents said they are vaping every day.
Last year, Rhode Island was one of four states that banned the sale of flavored e-cigarettes, which are often blamed for luring kids into vaping.
“It is tragic that in the last two years alone the number of Rhode Island high school students using e‐cigarettes has skyrocketed by 50%,” said Kevin O’Flaherty, advocacy director for the Campaign for Tobacco‐Free Kids. “The youth e‐cigarette epidemic is threatening to reverse decades of progress we’ve made in reducing tobacco use among kids.”
According to the CDC, flavored e-cigarettes produced by Juul and other brands contain as much nicotine as up to 20 regular cigarettes.
Elizabeth Graham is a PBN contributing writer.
