Promising trends in youth vaping for 2020! After reported vaping for Cortland County 7th-12th graders more than doubled from 2017 to 2018—even taking over alcohol in 2018 as the most commonly used substance by youth in Cortland County—we have since seen a steady decline in youth reporting vaping in the past 30 days. In 2020, 13.9% of Cortland County 7th-12th graders reported vaping at least one time in the past month in 2020, down from 21.9% in 2018 and 20.2% in 2019.
What about Junior High kids?
In 2019, we highlighted the fact that the percentage of 8th graders who reported vaping more than quadrupled from when they took the survey as 7th graders in 2018, to when they took the survey as 8th graders in 2019. In 2020, the percentage of students reporting vaping in this cohort, as 9th graders, actually decreased from 18.4% in 2019 to 15.6% in 2020.
Additionally, in 2019, 5.2% of 7th graders reported vaping in the past 30 days. In 2020, as 8th graders, only 4.9% reported vaping in the past 30 days (Figure 1). So the percentage of kids in that age cohort reporting vaping in the past 30 days didn’t triple or even quadruple like previous years—it actually decreased!
What does the future of vaping look like?
It will take several years of data collection before we can determine if the trend we are seeing in 8th grade vaping this year will hold strong over the next couple of years. In 2020, we did see a decrease in all reported substance use compared to 2019. COVID-19 shutdowns, and students not being in school or around friends as much, could be impacting the percentage of teens using substances.
However, 2020 did mark a successful year for tobacco control legislature. Laws were passed in New York State prohibiting sales of vaping products in pharmacies, prohibiting sales of flavored vaping products, increasing retailer penalties for underage sales, and prohibit delivery of products to private homes. All of these measures will continue to counter the tobacco/vaping industries efforts to make vaping appealing and accessible to youth in 2021.
Encourage your child to take part in the Reality Check program in Cortland County, which provides teens with the tools they need to educate their community and speak out against Big Tobacco.
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