New data obtained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that electronic cigarettes are becoming more popular among teenagers.
The agency made this discovery in last year's National Youth Tobacco Survey, which had 20,000 students share details about how often they use e-cigarettes, according to The Verge. 4.5 percent of high school students said they've used an e-cigarette in the past month, which is higher than the percentage of students (2.8 percent) using the device in the previous year.
The CDC also found an increase in the number of high school students who tried e-cigs for the first time, from 10 percent in 2012 to 12 percent in 2013.
The percentage of high school students who used e-cigarettes in the past month was also up from 1.5 percent in 2011, The Huffington Post reported. Additional findings include 23 percent of high school students saying they used some form of tobacco product, which include e-cigarettes, regular cigarettes, flavored cigarettes and hookahs, and 13 percent saying they recently smoked regular cigarettes.
While e-cigarette supporters describe the device as a healthy alternative to regular cigarettes, some experts argue that the nicotine in e-cigs are extremely dangerous for kids.
The survey also involved middle school students, with 1.1 percent saying they'd used e-cigarettes in the past month, The Verge reported. The number of middle school students who tried e-cigs for the first time grew from 2.7 percent to 3 percent.
While overall tobacco use for middle school and high school students remained the same, both groups experienced a decline in cigar and cigarette use.
Some federal officials have proposed the banning of e-cigarette sales across the U.S., The Huffington Post reported. The sale of e-cigs to minors is currently illegal in some states.
Dr. Patrick T. O'Gara, president of the American College of Cardiology, said the survey's results are discouraging, and that while the rate of smoking has gone down over the years, "we risk going backwards if a new generation of smokers becomes addicted to nicotine."
