The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported on Thursday that e-cigarette sales surged by nearly 50% between 2020 and 2022. This data comes despite stricter marketing regulations and mounting concerns over the health effects associated with e-cigarette use. The rise in sales was largely driven by an increase in unit sales, specifically among young consumers, as well as the availability of numerous brands and flavors on the market.
June 22 (UPI) — According to the CDC’s findings, e-cigarette unit sales skyrocketed from 15.5 million units in 2020 to 22.7 million units in 2022, representing a 46.6% surge. The demand for e-cigarettes led to the expansion of available offerings, with the number of brands increasing from 184 to 269 during this period. However, there was a slight decline in unit sales during the last six months of 2022, which experts believe can be attributed to several factors such as new regulations by the Food and Drug Administration, local and state restrictions, and disruptions in the supply chain caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The dramatic spikes in youth e-cigarette use back in 2017 and 2018, primarily driven by JUUL, showed us how quickly e-cigarette sales and use patterns can change,” said Deirdre Lawrence Kittner, director of the CDC’s Office of Smoking Health. Kittner emphasized that real-time data on e-cigarette sales are crucial for monitoring usage trends and implementing effective measures to reduce youth tobacco use.
Furthermore, the CDC’s research highlighted the popularity of non-tobacco flavored e-cigarettes, including menthol, fruit, and candy flavors, among middle and high school students in the United States. JUUL, Vuse, Elf Bar (now known as EBDESIGN), NJOY, and Breeze Smoke were identified as the leading brands in the e-cigarette market.
To address the growing issue of e-cigarette use, the CDC recommends implementing comprehensive restrictions on the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including e-cigarettes and menthol cigarettes. It also suggests employing strategies such as price increases to deter sales and enforcing smoke-free policies that prohibit the use of e-cigarettes and tobacco products indoors.
In response to the CDC’s report, Harold Wimmer, the National President and CEO of the American Lung Association, emphasized the urgent need for the FDA to complete its review of e-cigarette marketing applications and to deny applications for all flavored e-cigarettes, including menthol-flavored products, in order to protect youth and combat the youth vaping epidemic.
