RESEARCH ARTICLE Electronic Cigarette and Traditional Cigarette Use among Middle and High School Students

Recent youth trends in the prevalence of e-cigarette and traditional cigarette use in Florida were examined in a cross-sectional, representative state sample from 2011 to 2014. Tradi-tional cigarette use among youth declined during the study period. Experimentation with and past 30-day use of e-cigarettes among Florida youth tripled over 4 years. Past 30-day e-cigarette use exceeded traditional cigarette use in 2014; 10.8 % of high school and 4.0% of middle school students reported recent e-cigarette use, compared with 8.7 % of high school and 2.9 % of middle school students for traditional cigarettes (P<0.001). By 2014, 20.5 % of high school and 8.5 % of middle school students reported ever use of e-cigarettes. Among ever e-cigarette users in 2014, 30.3 % of high school and 42.2 % of middle school students had never smoked traditional cigarettes. Given the concern that significant rates of e-cigarette use by U.S. adolescents may have a negative effect on public health, further re-view of e-cigarette advertising, marketing, sales, and use among U.S. youth is warranted