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RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Cigarette smoking is down among North Carolina teens, but electronic cigarette and hookah use is up, according to the latest North Carolina Youth Tobacco Survey.
The survey found cigarette smoking has dropped 13 percent with high school students between 2011 and 2013, with just 13.5 percent of high school students using cigarettes.
But during that same time, e-cigarette use rose from about 2 percent of students to 8 percent. The use of water-filled pipes called hookahs more than doubled to 6 percent of high school students, according to the survey obtained by The News & Observer of Raleigh (http://bit.ly/1v38wwc ).
The survey also found about a fifth of the teens who use tobacco use at least two different products.
Health officials say while the drop in cigarette smoking should be celebrated, the rise in other tobacco use is discouraging because they are just as addictive and studies have found nicotine use by teens can hinder brain development.
"It is clear that young people do not understand the addictive nature or the potential harms of these products. I keep hearing of young people around the state describing e-cigarettes as nothing but flavored water vapor, when that is far from the truth," said Dr. Ruth Petersen, chief of the Chronic Disease and Injury Section in the North Carolina Division of Public Health.
The survey was first conducted in 1999, when more than 31 percent of high school students said they smoked.
About 2.5 percent of middle schools students said they smoked cigarettes, according to the survey.
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Information from: The News & Observer, http://www.newsobserver.com
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