The ongoing controversy over e-cigarettes and youth smoking has hit a proverbial regulatory wall. In September 2018, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb acknowledged “an epidemic of use of e-cigarettes among teens.” On August 8, 2016, the FDA's “deeming rule,” which regulates electronic smoking devices in the same way it regulates other tobacco products, became effective, resulting in the federal prohibition on sales of e-cigarettes to anyone under the age of 18. Perhaps not a moment too soon.
According to the 2017 National Youth Tobacco Survey, 11.7 percent of American high school students use e-cigarettes, up from 1.5 percent in 2011, or a 780 percent increase in use over six years. The survey also reported that, among American middle school students, 3.3 percent are regular smokers of e-cigarettes, up from 0.6 percent in 2011, or a 550 percent increase over a corresponding six-year period. Reflective of this rise in youth e-cigarette usage, in 2017, 2.1 million middle and high school students used e-cigarettes, while 1.4 million used cigarettes and 1.3 million used cigars.
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