Pixel Bloom https://www.flickr.com/photos/65581677@N06/6863731205

While the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Congressional Democrats are trying to tax and regulate the vaping industry out of existence based on claims of a “youth epidemic”, newly released data from the the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the FDA’s 2019 and 2020 National Youth Tobacco Surveys conclusively demonstrates that this myth is not grounded in any factual bases. 

Current data shows that only 3.1% of High School Students and just 0.2% of Middle School students vape daily, and the number of students who had experimented with at least one puff of a e-cigarette in the last 30 days plummeted by 50% since 2018.  These numbers are expected to fall further, as policies such as Tobacco 21 and increased enforcement reduces the ability for young Americans to have access to these products.

While certainly it would be ideal if no high school students used these products, to claim 3.1% of high school and 0.2% of middle school students vaping is somehow an “epidemic” is laughable nonsense.

To cut off access for adults trying to quit smoking with a product proven 95% safer which has the potential to save millions of lives on the basis of a myth which government provided data easily disproves will be remembered as one of the worst public health decisions of a generation.