Minnesota Survey: One in Five High School Students Uses E-Cigarettes

The 2020 Minnesota Youth Tobacco Survey also showed that 70% of middle school and high school e-cigarette users displayed signs of nicotine dependence. The survey was conducted by the Minnesota Department of Health to provide information on youth commercial tobacco use and to help design and evaluate prevention efforts.

According to the new data, 19% of high school students and 3% of middle school students are current e-cigarette users, while 34% of high school students and 8% of middle school students said they had tried e-cigarettes. Compared with 2017, this did not represent a statistically significant increase.

The data indicates that four out of five Minnesota students reported that the first tobacco product they tried was flavored. Overall tobacco use among high school and middle school students who used tobacco products in the past 30 days fell to 20.5% and 4.1%, respectively, compared with 26.4% and 5.2% in 2017.

Meanwhile, last December, the federal government raised the legal age for tobacco sales from 18 to 21. In response, Minnesota lawmakers said implementing the same law statewide should eliminate confusion among retailers, according to Laura Smith, senior public affairs manager at ClearWay Minnesota, a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing tobacco use. The Tobacco 21 law was passed by the legislature and signed by Governor Tim Walz last May, bringing Minnesota law into alignment with federal and local tobacco regulations.

Senator Carla Nelson, R-Rochester, who has long advocated raising the age limit, said the main goal of the new legislation is to prevent teens from using e-cigarettes and developing subsequent nicotine addiction. In fact, research shows that younger brains are more susceptible to addiction.