As if parents didn’t have enough to worry about without the tobacco industry targeting our kids with harmful vape products that come in eye-catching packaging, masquerade as everyday objects, and deliver highly concentrated nicotine that’s easily inhaled and absorbed more quickly by the body.12 Even after the FDA declared a “teen e-cigarette use epidemic” in 2018, when high school use surged by 78% between 2017 and 2018, the tobacco industry continued to market and promote vapes as a “safer” tobacco product, selling flavored tobacco products like mango and strawberry or mint crush to appeal to youth.3
While overall high school vape use rates have declined in the years since, the next generation of young people are getting hooked. As of 2023, more than 550,000 middle school students currently use e-cigarettes, and more than 20% report frequent use.4 And in California, vapes are the most commonly used tobacco product used by middle schoolers as more than 91% of students who currently vape report using flavored vapes.5
Poison for the developing brain
Nicotine is an addictive brain poison, and can amplify anxiety, depression, mood swings, and irritability in young people.678 Teens who vape nicotine experience negative effects on their learning ability and attention spans.8 Vapes have been engineered by the tobacco industry to maximize nicotine addictiveness with the introduction of nicotine salts which allow for higher concentrations of nicotine to be inhaled more easily and absorbed more quickly.91011 Flavors added to vapes, such as mango and strawberry, mask the harsh taste of tobacco and the presence of nicotine, making it easier for young users to start using more and more – resulting in serious damage to the brain and body.85
Vape trends
As the vaping product landscape continues to shift, it’s important to do your homework and stay on top of the latest vaping trends. Watch here for a video highlighting how tobacco companies design their products to hide in plain sight among other items found in kids’ backpacks, desks or personal items.
According to the latest national research, the most popular vape brands among students who currently use vapes includes:4
- Elf Bar: Easily identifiable by their characteristic bright, candy colors and rounded shape, Elf Bar is the most commonly used brand. One psychologist said there was “no question” that Elf Bars are visually designed to attract youth.12
- Esco Bar: Resembles the shape of a marker or highlighter, and is often packaged in bright, pastel colors.
- Vuse: Popular models are similar in appearance to those of former industry leader JUUL, with both being easily mistaken by parents as a USB drive.
- Mr. Fog: If the name doesn’t tell you all you need to know, Mr. Fog products are also designed to appeal to young people with bright colors and playful shapes.
Continue scrolling for a snapshot of the latest generation of vapes:
California ended the sale of flavored tobacco
In 2022, Californians overwhelmingly voted to uphold a law ending the sale of most flavored tobacco products, including vapes, in retail stores, making it much harder for Big Tobacco to target and entice young people to use their deadly products.13 Although sales of flavored vape products have declined by 71% since 2023,14 they are still available for sale online in California. Click here to learn more about the law.
There is nothing good about nicotine. Click here for quit support for yourself or to help a young person quit vapes and other tobacco products.
