Director Of The U.S. FDA Center For Tobacco Products: Youth Smoking Rates Are At An All-time Low, And E-cigarette Use Has Dropped To A 10-year Low

Director of the U.S. FDA Center for Tobacco Products: Youth smoking rates are at an all-time low, and e-cigarette use has dropped to a 10-year low

Dr. Brian King, director of the U.S. FDA's Center for Tobacco Products, announced that youth smoking rates have reached a record low and e-cigarette use has dropped to its lowest level in nearly a decade. Despite significant progress, the FDA said it will continue to take measures to protect teenagers from Dangers of Tobacco Products.

 

On December 4, U.S. time, Dr. Brian King, director of the Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), announced that according to the 2024 National Youth Tobacco Survey Report, the use rate of tobacco products among youth has dropped to 25 lowest in years. Teen smoking rates are at record lows, and e-cigarette use is at its lowest level in nearly a decade. This achievement is the result of multiple efforts, including federal and local policy implementation, education and advocacy, and rigorous enforcement. Despite the significant progress, the FDA said it will continue to take steps to protect youth from the harms of tobacco products.

 

The following is the Chinese content translated by AI for reference only. Please refer to the original English text:

 

Teen tobacco product use continues to decline as FDA moves forward

 

As director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Center for Tobacco Products (CTP), I often reflect on my communications with the public, especially those involving the people behind tobacco use statistics. This reflection goes back to the early days of my career, when I worked at a tobacco quitline and fielded calls every day from people eager to quit smoking. Their reasons for quitting vary: they want to live to see their grandchildren, walk their children down the aisle at a wedding, or take a dream trip with their spouse. Whatever the reason, however, these people all have one heartbreaking thing in common - a deep desire to be with their families and share the precious moments of their lives.

 

We know that most adults who use tobacco products are first exposed to tobacco as teenagers. Therefore, keeping tobacco products out of the hands of young people is one of our core tasks. The recently released "2024 National Youth Tobacco Survey Report" shows a huge victory for public health: youth tobacco product use has dropped to an all-time low in the 25 years since the survey was launched. Teen smoking rates are at record lows.

 

Additionally, this progress has been driven by a decline in e-cigarette use, which has fallen to its lowest level in nearly a decade among teenagers.

 

This achievement is the result of collaborative efforts at all levels of government and organizations, including national, state, local, regional and tribal efforts. At the national level, the FDA has taken comprehensive and strong tobacco regulatory measures-not coincidentally, since the establishment of the CTP in 2009, the number of U.S. youth tobacco product users has dropped from 4.67 million to 2.25 million in 2024.

 

It's worth noting that the FDA's work in this area is not yet finished. CTP's Policy Agenda provides guidance and transparency into our plans, including current and long-term priorities. For example, the FDA recently adopted a final rule clarifying age requirements for the sale of tobacco products. Most adults who smoke daily smoke their first cigarette when they are young, so enforcing the federal minimum sales age of 21 is critical to controlling tobacco use.

 

Another way to protect youth is to review applications for new tobacco products. One focus of the CTP review is consideration of adolescents who may begin using these products. To date, we have taken action on more than 26 million applications, including denying permission to market e-cigarettes with designs and flavors that appeal to youth, such as candy and fruit.

 

At the same time, we have also approved the sale of 34 e-cigarette products, including products with tobacco and menthol flavors. These approved products and devices have undergone rigorous scientific review and have been determined by the FDA to meet the public health standards required by law - that is, when weighing the risks of the product and the health benefits of the overall population, the two meet the standards required by law. . For flavored e-cigarettes, this includes demonstrating that they have greater benefits for adults who smoke than regular tobacco-flavored e-cigarettes, such as switching entirely or significantly reducing the amount smoked, thus offsetting potential risks to adolescents.

 

FDA also protects youth from the dangers of tobacco products through enforcement actions. We use a variety of tools, including warning letters, civil penalties, injunctions and seizures, to ensure that parties in the supply chain comply with the law to prevent youth use of tobacco products. Additionally, we are working with other federal agencies, such as through a newly formed interagency working group, to strengthen e-cigarette enforcement efforts.

Education plays a key role in preventing youth from starting to use tobacco products. For example, our award-winning campaign The Real Cost is estimated to prevent hundreds of thousands of youth from starting to use tobacco products each year. These efforts are a "best investment" in public health-for every $1 spent on this campaign, society saves approximately $180 in avoided tobacco-related health costs. The campaign continues to reach and positively impact youth groups. In addition, we provide outreach resources to parents and teachers, such as the free Vaping Prevention and Education Resource Center.

 

All of the above actions are part of FDA's ongoing efforts to make tobacco-related illness and death a thing of our nation's history and ensure a healthier future for our youth. While current progress is encouraging, there is still much work to be done. We remain committed to protecting young people from the harms of tobacco products.