Montana Teens Now Vape More Than Most States

Teen Vaping in Montana: E-Cigarettes Are a Growing Concern

It's difficult to find anyone who would argue that smoking cigarettes is beneficial to your health.

Sadly, I have heard some people say that vaping is the "healthy" way to smoke, which could explain why so many Montana teens are vaping.

The History Of Electronic Cigarettes

Electronic cigarettes, or e-cigs, better known as vaping, have a longer history than most people might realize.

In 1927 the first "electronic vaporizer" was patented, then in 1963 the first "smokeless non-tobacco cigarette" was patented, and finally in 2007 the first disposable e-cig was made available.

I know lots of people who that have quit smoking thanks to vaping, but sadly more teenagers are picking up the habit.

Vaping And Smoking Statistics Among Teenagers

Currently the amount of teenagers that are smoking analog cigarettes is 1.4% of all students in grades 9-12, while e-cigs sit at 7.8%.

As for Montana? Well, it's pretty bad here, as Visual Capitalist, using data from the American Lung Association, found that almost 26% of Montana high school students report having vaped at least once in the past 30 days. That puts Montana at #4 for the highest percentage of students vaping.

Encouraging Trends: Youth Tobacco Use Declining

Thankfully, according to PBS, the CDC is reporting that while these numbers might seem high, they are actually declining, and the percentages have reached a 25-year low for youth tobacco use.

Sources: PBS, CDC, Visual Capitalist, American Lung Association