CDC Data Reveal Drastic Decline in Youth Smoking, Blowing E-Cigarette Gateway Hypothesis Out of the Water

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday released new data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) revealing that despite a striking increase in youth e-cigarette use in the past two years, the prevalence of current smoking among high school students nationally declined by a whopping 31% from 2013 to 2015, falling from 15.7% to 10.8%. This represents a historic low and a 41% decline since 2011. Frequent smoking also fell to a historic low, dropping from 5.6% to 3.4%, a 39% decline. Daily smoking dropped by 42%, from 4.0% to 2.3%, and overall tobacco use declined by 23%, falling from 24.0% to 18.5%.The 41% drop in youth smoking from 2011 to 2015 occurred at the same time as a 24-fold increase in youth e-cigarette use, which rose from just 1% to 24%.In response to these data, and in spite of the data, anti-smoking advocates and groups claimed that this shows e-cigarettes are leading kids to smoking.For example, according to a Health Day article: "Dr. Len Horovitz, a pulmonary specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, said, 'While cigarette smoking in high school students is at an all-time low, the rise of e-cigarette use poses a risk that teenagers will transition from 'e' to 'real' cigarettes.'"The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids claimed that: "this survey also raises fresh concerns that other tobacco products, especially electronic cigarettes and cigars, are undermining overall efforts to reduce youth tobacco use and could be luring a ne...
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