August 21, 2019 This news release was updated at 4:45pm on 8/21/2019
Media Contact:Britt Ehrhardt County of Santa Clara Public Health Department Office: (408) 792-5155 [email protected]
News Release in Spanish
Santa Clara County, Calif. – New data released today show widespread and increasing use of e-cigarettes, or vapes, among high school students in Santa Clara County and across California. More than 31 percent of teens surveyed in Santa Clara County reported that they had ever tried e-cigarettes. Some of this group were already regular users of vapes despite their young age. Indeed, more than 13 percent of teens in the survey currently used e-cigarettes, meaning that they reported vaping in the last month. At the same time, use of combustible cigarettes by youth in the county in the past month declined to a low of 1.4 percent. This is a decrease since 2015-2016, when a previous study of middle and high school students found that 3 percent of youth in the county used combustible cigarettes in the past month.
Today’s California Student Tobacco Survey reached students in 8th, 10th, and 12th grades at 18 schools in Santa Clara County. This is the largest county-wide survey of local youth tobacco use since the broad introduction of e-cigarettes to the market. The rate of youth who are current users of e-cigarettes in Santa Clara County – 13 percent – remains lower than that of the country as a whole, which stands at 21 percent. However, the Santa Clara County rate is slightly higher than the state of California’s 11 percent.
“Today’s youth are our future. We must empower them with the tools necessary to make positive choices for themselves. Santa Clara County is doing better than the national average, but that is not enough when 1 in 3 high school students are using e-cigarettes. We can, and must, do better,” said County of Santa Clara Supervisor Susan Ellenberg.
The survey asked about access to tobacco products, use of those products, and students’ perceptions of new tobacco products like vape pens and e-cigarettes, as well as long-established products such as combustible cigarettes. The survey found:
Full survey results are available at sccphd.org/tobaccofree.
“E-cigarettes and other vape products contain many chemicals – some known to the consumer, and some not – and we don’t fully know what the harms of these substances might be in the short and long term,” said Dr. Sara Cody, County of Santa Clara Health Officer and Director of the Public Health Department. “What we do know, however, is that e-cigarettes and other vape products containing nicotine are harmful to the developing brain, which includes the adolescent brain.”
The County of Santa Clara Public Health Department partners with schools, government, and community organizations to prevent youth use of tobacco. Over the past two years, the Department has provided community workshops and presentations to more than 2,000 youth, parents, and school staff, and provided more than 250 hours of technical assistance to support implementation of tobacco prevention strategies known to have the greatest impact on reducing youth tobacco use. The Department supports youth-led clubs at schools: students educate their peers, invite their city’s Mayor to the school to discuss youth vaping, meet with nonprofit organizations, share their stories with the news media, and present at conferences.
The Public Health Department added funding to this state of California data collection in order to increase the number of students and schools surveyed locally, providing more complete and accurate data about youth here. Proposition 56 and Proposition 99 tobacco excise tax revenue covered the costs of expanding the number of survey participants in Santa Clara County.
In Santa Clara County, 1 in 8 deaths annually is attributed to smoking, including smoking-related deaths due to cancer, heart disease, and respiratory diseases. Tobacco use is still the number one preventable cause of death and disease in California, killing nearly 40,000 Californians every year. Tobacco use carries a hefty price tag, both in the annual cost of $689 million in Santa Clara County, and impacts on families due to preventable diseases.
In Santa Clara County, 18 schools that were selected to participate in the survey completed data collection. Participating schools receive a small stipend to cover the costs of survey administration. Students participate voluntarily and anonymously through an electronic survey procedure overseen by contracted researchers. Schools that participate in the survey also receive a school-level report of results from the survey.
The state of California began the survey in the 2001-2002 school year, and it is implemented every two years. Parents receive notification about the survey before its administration. Working with the researchers, most schools choose to require parents to opt out if they do not want their children to participate, though schools can choose to require affirmative consent from parents instead. This year, the survey was implemented by University of California San Diego researchers, under contract with the state of California Department of Public Health.
Media Contact:Britt Ehrhardt County of Santa Clara Public Health Department Office: (408) 792-5155 [email protected]
New Data Funded by County of Santa Clara Public Health Department Sounds the Alarm on Increasing Tobacco Use Among Teens in Schools
News Release in Spanish
Santa Clara County, Calif. – New data released today show widespread and increasing use of e-cigarettes, or vapes, among high school students in Santa Clara County and across California. More than 31 percent of teens surveyed in Santa Clara County reported that they had ever tried e-cigarettes. Some of this group were already regular users of vapes despite their young age. Indeed, more than 13 percent of teens in the survey currently used e-cigarettes, meaning that they reported vaping in the last month. At the same time, use of combustible cigarettes by youth in the county in the past month declined to a low of 1.4 percent. This is a decrease since 2015-2016, when a previous study of middle and high school students found that 3 percent of youth in the county used combustible cigarettes in the past month.
Today’s California Student Tobacco Survey reached students in 8th, 10th, and 12th grades at 18 schools in Santa Clara County. This is the largest county-wide survey of local youth tobacco use since the broad introduction of e-cigarettes to the market. The rate of youth who are current users of e-cigarettes in Santa Clara County – 13 percent – remains lower than that of the country as a whole, which stands at 21 percent. However, the Santa Clara County rate is slightly higher than the state of California’s 11 percent.
“Today’s youth are our future. We must empower them with the tools necessary to make positive choices for themselves. Santa Clara County is doing better than the national average, but that is not enough when 1 in 3 high school students are using e-cigarettes. We can, and must, do better,” said County of Santa Clara Supervisor Susan Ellenberg.
The survey asked about access to tobacco products, use of those products, and students’ perceptions of new tobacco products like vape pens and e-cigarettes, as well as long-established products such as combustible cigarettes. The survey found:
- 13.2 percent of Santa Clara County teens reported using e-cigarettes in the past month, meaning they were counted as current users
- Nearly 1 in 3 Santa Clara County teens – 31.6 percent – report that they have used an e-cigarette at least once
- 82.3 percent of teens currently using tobacco reported using a flavored product: use of flavored products was widespread across all tobacco products and all demographic categories
- More than 2 in 5 teens – 45.4 percent – reported purchasing their own e-cigarettes, with over a quarter of this group saying they buy them directly from a local store. Among those who purchased e-cigarettes in a local store, 62.5 percent purchased them at a vape shop.
Full survey results are available at sccphd.org/tobaccofree.
“E-cigarettes and other vape products contain many chemicals – some known to the consumer, and some not – and we don’t fully know what the harms of these substances might be in the short and long term,” said Dr. Sara Cody, County of Santa Clara Health Officer and Director of the Public Health Department. “What we do know, however, is that e-cigarettes and other vape products containing nicotine are harmful to the developing brain, which includes the adolescent brain.”
The County of Santa Clara Public Health Department partners with schools, government, and community organizations to prevent youth use of tobacco. Over the past two years, the Department has provided community workshops and presentations to more than 2,000 youth, parents, and school staff, and provided more than 250 hours of technical assistance to support implementation of tobacco prevention strategies known to have the greatest impact on reducing youth tobacco use. The Department supports youth-led clubs at schools: students educate their peers, invite their city’s Mayor to the school to discuss youth vaping, meet with nonprofit organizations, share their stories with the news media, and present at conferences.
The Public Health Department added funding to this state of California data collection in order to increase the number of students and schools surveyed locally, providing more complete and accurate data about youth here. Proposition 56 and Proposition 99 tobacco excise tax revenue covered the costs of expanding the number of survey participants in Santa Clara County.
In Santa Clara County, 1 in 8 deaths annually is attributed to smoking, including smoking-related deaths due to cancer, heart disease, and respiratory diseases. Tobacco use is still the number one preventable cause of death and disease in California, killing nearly 40,000 Californians every year. Tobacco use carries a hefty price tag, both in the annual cost of $689 million in Santa Clara County, and impacts on families due to preventable diseases.
In Santa Clara County, 18 schools that were selected to participate in the survey completed data collection. Participating schools receive a small stipend to cover the costs of survey administration. Students participate voluntarily and anonymously through an electronic survey procedure overseen by contracted researchers. Schools that participate in the survey also receive a school-level report of results from the survey.
The state of California began the survey in the 2001-2002 school year, and it is implemented every two years. Parents receive notification about the survey before its administration. Working with the researchers, most schools choose to require parents to opt out if they do not want their children to participate, though schools can choose to require affirmative consent from parents instead. This year, the survey was implemented by University of California San Diego researchers, under contract with the state of California Department of Public Health.