According to a study by the
American Lung Association
, California ranks the lowest of all states for youth vaping.
The
study
shows California with the lowest percentage of high schoolers who smoke, use e-cigarettes or use tobacco products in general.
According to the study, only 5.6% of high school students use e-cigarettes in the state, and only 1.2% smoke. The research did show 6.6% of Californian high schoolers using tobacco, which was defined as using cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, cigars or e-cigarettes.
The American Lung Association was founded 120 years ago to combat threats to lung health. At that time, tuberculosis was the main concern. While tuberculosis is still present, it’s not as prominent, and so the association has expanded its focus to other respiratory threats such as vaping and smoking.
The association’s data was collected between 2019 and 2023, using the most recent numbers available in each state. The data for some states is from 2021, while other data was pulled from 2023 studies. The American Lung Association released the study in
May 2024
Data varied largely across the states. For example, West Virginia showed 27.5% of high school students using e-cigarettes — more than five times California’s usage.
Alaska, Montana, Louisiana and New Mexico all reported that more than one in four high school students use e-cigarettes. On the flipside, states with the lowest e-cigarette use included Washington, Utah, Connecticut and Minnesota.
“While traditional smoking rates among teens have declined substantially over the years, e-cigarette use has taken its place in many regions,” Joe Tucker, the chief operating officer of Provape, an online vaping retailer, said in a press release.
“The significant variation between states suggests that local policies, education programs, and cultural factors may play important roles in determining youth vaping rates. States with the lowest rates might offer valuable lessons for those currently facing higher usage rates among teens,” he continued.
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California didn’t just rank low for youth e-cigarette use, but adult use too. While California didn’t earn the title of lowest adult smoking rates — Maryland took the cake on that one — it still ranked below 10%, per the American Lung Association’s
study
.
Oklahoma had the highest rate, 10.9%, of adult e-cigarette users.
And for adult cigarette smoking, California ranked low again, though still not the lowest.
While Utah only showed 6.7% of adults smoking cigarettes, California wasn’t far behind, ranking third lowest for adult cigarette smoking at 9.7%, just behind Maryland’s 9.6%.
