Youth Smoking Gains Have Stalled in the Vaping Era, Study Finds

Tracking nearly 600,000 Year 10 students over 21 years, researchers found the decline in smoking slowed after vaping emerged.

School students make their way through the Sydney central business district in Australia on March 26, 2025. Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

Proponents of vaping often argue it helps people quit tobacco, but a new study has found that while smoking rates among 14 to 15-year-olds have declined substantially in recent decades, the rise of e-cigarettes may have slowed that decline.

The study, published in The Lancet Regional Health—Western Pacific, found no evidence that vaping reduces harm for adolescents. Instead, it suggests vaping has “substantially added to harms,” particularly for Māori youth.