E-Cigarette Smoking on the Rise Among Teens: CDC Study

A new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  says that there is an increase in the number of young people puffing on vaporized tobacco.

The study says there is a marked increase in high schoolers smoking e-cigarettes, which the agency says will act adversely on the decreasing number of cigarette smokers in this age group.

"We've seen continued declines in tobacco use, but e-cigarette use is rising and that's troubling," said Brian King, senior adviser with the office on smoking and health at the CDC, to Washington Post. "Any use is hazardous to the health of youths."

The study showed a triple jump in usage of e-cigarettes among high school students in a month from 2011 to 2013.

The percentage of high school students who said they had used an e-cigarette in the past 30 days rose to 4.5 percent in 2013, a more than 60 percent jump from 2012.

There was a 2 percent jump from 2012 to 2013 in first time users, according to the study.

"In terms of ever-use, we're talking about several million high school kids," King said . "Even in terms of regular use we're still talking about several hundred thousand."

E-cigarettes are still not fully regulated and only some states prohibit their sales to under age teens.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is still working on legislation to   ban the sale of e-cigarettes to anyone under the age of 18.