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Straight from the CDC: > Nearly 8 of every 100 high school students (7.6%) reported in 2017 that they smoked cigarettes in the past 30 days—a decrease from 15.
by rileyphone 8y ago
Straight from the CDC:
> Nearly 8 of every 100 high school students (7.6%) reported in 2017 that they smoked cigarettes in the past 30 days—a decrease from 15.8% in 2011.
>Nearly 12 of every 100 high school students (11.7%) reported in 2016 that they used electronic cigarettes in the past 30 days—an increase from 1.5% in 2011.
While of course e-cigs aren't harmless, there's a pretty clear replacement effect between them and cigarettes. Kids are going to do stupid things anyways, taking away the more enjoyable of the two isn't going to stop that.
[1] https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/youth_data/tobacco_use/index.htm https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/yout...
- Retric 8y agoThere is a very long term downward trend with cigarettes from the 70's. https://www.hhs.gov/ash/oah/adolescent-development/substance-use/drugs/tobacco/trends/index.html https://www.hhs.gov/ash/oah/adolescent-development/substance... So, no it's not obvious that electronic cigarettes are replacing smoking. The upward trend with electronic cigarettes is a huge public health issue.
- bunderbunder 8y agoIt seems like it might not just be a replacement effect, though. Adding those numbers together, and pretending that 2016 == 2017, you get an increase from 17.3% of kids using either in 2011, to 19.3% in 2016/2017. Perhaps you can make an argument that, lacking tar and being (purportedly?) less addictive, e-cigs are enough less bad that a net increase in the number of kids consuming nicotine is an acceptable price for halving the number of kids who are smoking cigarettes. That's a more arguable argument, though.