450K Youth Prevented From Starting E-Cigarette Use In One Year: FDA

(RTTNews) - Educational efforts, mainly adveritsements, have prevented nearly 450,000 youth from starting E-Cigarette use in one year, reducing the youth e-cigarette use to the lowest level in a decade, according to a study co-authored by U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

"The Real Cost" youth e-cigarette prevention campaign was found to have prevented an estimated 444,252 American youth, between 11 and 17 at study recruitment, from starting to use e-cigarettes between the years 2023 and 2024.

The Campaign, which was launched by the FDA in 2018 under the leadership of President Donald Trump, uses a variety of marketing tactics and creative advertising delivered across communication channels relevant to teens, including digital and streaming platforms, social media and gaming platforms.

As per the study co-authored by FDA scientists and published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal American Journal of Preventive Medicine, such ads successfully reduced e-cigarette use among youth.

The new study found evidence that the campaign contributed to the nearly 70 percent decline in e-cigarette use among American youth that has occurred since 2019.

The number of U.S. middle and high school students who currently use e-cigarettes has declined to 1.63 million in 2024, the lowest level in a decade, from 5.38 million in 2019, according to the National Youth Tobacco Survey.

Data from the evaluation showed that viewing ads from "The Real Cost" campaign lowered chances that youth who had never used an e-cigarette would later initiate use. The survey collected information on how frequently youth were exposed to "The Real Cost" campaign and which youth went on to try e-cigarettes, among other variables.

Brian King, director of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products, said, "Adolescence is a critical period for prevention efforts because most adults who use tobacco products begin using them in their teenage years. Youth tobacco prevention campaigns not only work, but they are also a cost-effective approach to protecting young people from a lifetime of nicotine addiction."

The agency noted that the latest data build on prior scientific studies showing that exposure to "The Real Cost" campaign is a cost-saving strategy by reducing the lifetime risks of tobacco-related disease and death, including from chronic disease.

A previous study showed that "The Real Cost" Youth Cigarette Prevention Campaign prevented up to 587,000 American youth from initiating smoking over a three-year period, half of whom might have gone on to become established adult cigarette users.

In addition, the campaign was found to save $180 for every dollar spent on the effort in its first two years, totaling more than $53 billion in reduced smoking-related costs. These included early loss of life, costly medical care, lost wages, lower productivity, and increased disability.

The agency's activities under the campaign, in coordination with federal partners, also include compliance and enforcement actions across the supply chain to ensure that those that make, distribute or sell illegal tobacco products are held accountable to the law.

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