Teenagers Two to Three Times More Likely to Vape Than Smoke

According to the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the use of e-cigarettes or vaporizers containing nicotine has become so common amongst U.S. teens that 8th through 12th graders are now more likely to use e-cigarettes than regular cigarettes.

As part of the 2025 Monitoring the Future survey, which included more than 24,000 students from 272 schools, 15 percent of 8th graders and 31 percent of 12th graders said they had vaped nicotine before, comparable to numbers from earlier years. Only 5.4 percent of 8th graders and 15.5 percent of 12th graders said they had consumed cigarettes.

11.5 percent of 8th graders and 18 percent of 12th graders reported having vaped without nicotine content, while 9 percent and 24 percent of the same grouped had vaped marijuana.

The NIH states that vaping exposes the lungs to different harmful chemicals and that nicotine use is generally not safe for teenagers. Since 2016, the sale of tobacco-derived products for e-cigarettes and vaporizers is limited to people who are 18 years or older.