Over the last decade, the tobacco product landscape has evolved dramatically, with new delivery devices and nontobacco nicotine products being developed and marketed to both adults and youth. Nicotine is the drug or substance in tobacco products that can lead to addiction. While cigarette smoking among teens has trended downward since 1997, overall nicotine use remains high, largely driven by nicotine vaping.¹ Vaping devices are battery-operated devices that people use to inhale an aerosol, which typically contains nicotine or marijuana (though not always), flavorings, and other chemicals. By the time they reach 12th grade, one in three adolescents will have vaped nicotine at least once,¹ and each day, nearly 4,020 youth ages 12–17 vape nicotine for the first time.² The high rate of adolescent nicotine use underscores the importance of studying and understanding patterns of use among this population. Nicotine use is defined in this indicator as use of any of the following products in the past 30 days: cigarettes, large cigars, flavored small cigars, regular small cigars, tobacco using a hookah, smokeless tobacco, or vapes with nicotine.

Indicator BEH1 Percentage of 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-grade students who reported any nicotine use and who reported vaping nicotine in the past 30 days by grade, 2017–2024

• Use of any nicotine products in the past 30 days declined for 8th-graders from 9% in 2023 to 5% in 2024. The percentage of 10th- and 12th-graders who reported any nicotine use in 2024 was 11% and 16%, respectively, unchanged from 2023.
• Vaping nicotine is the main driver of nicotine use among youth. In 2024, use of any nicotine was reported by 6% of 8th-graders, 11% of 10th-graders, and 16% of 12th-graders. Vaping nicotine was reported by 5%, 10%, and 15% of 8th- 10th-, and 12th-graders, respectively.
• The percentage of youth vaping nicotine increased faster among girls than boys. In 2017, the percentage of youth who reported vaping nicotine was similar for boys and girls among 8th- and 10th-graders but higher for boys than girls among 12th-graders. By 2024, the percentage of girls who reported vaping nicotine was higher than the percentage of boys in all three grades.
• Among 8th graders, vaping nicotine was reported by 4% of boys and 3% of girls in 2017; by 2024, these percentages were 4% for boys and 7% for girls. Among 10th-grade girls, the percentage reporting vaping nicotine increased from 8% in 2017 to 11% in 2024, while among 12th grade girls it rose from 8% to 16% over the same period. In contrast, the prevalence among boys remained steady. In 2024, 8% of 10th grade boys and 13% of 12th-grade boys reported vaping nicotine, similar to the levels observed in 2017 (8% and 14%, respectively).

 BEH1.A HTML Table | BEH1.B HTML Table | BEH1.C HTML Table